Sign up for the Today newsletter
Get everything you need to know to start your day, delivered right to your inbox every morning.
Tufts’ 10-story residence hall gets green light, 2027 opening date over community objections
Medford ’s Community Development Board approved the new dorm Wednesday despite complaints from more than 120 city residents around issues like the building's height.
Despite widespread backlash from Medford residents and the Board chair’s apparent agreement with their position, the city’s Community Development Board approved a proposed Tufts University residence hall Wednesday.
Tufts Dorm
The plan, to bring a ten-story dorm to Boston Avenue, prompted dozens of residents to write to the Board, warning that the building’s height would generate sound and light pollution and cast new shadows on the neighborhood. Prior to a CDB meeting on Jan. 15, more than 120 neighbors signed a second letter to the Board expressing similar concerns. The group shared its “unified opposition” against the current proposal, saying that the residence hall, if built as planned, will have “severe, irreversible negative impacts on the surrounding Hillside community for generations.”
Advertisement:
When the Board voted at the January meeting, the project received only two of the four votes it needed to be approved. That led to a motion to reconsider the vote at the CDB’s meeting last week, where it received five “yes” votes and one abstention, by Board member Ari Gofman Fishman. Sabrina Alpino and Ayni N. Strang, who voted not to approve the residence hall on Jan. 15, voted affirmatively Wednesday.
“With this outcome, we have to wonder if the board felt pressured to change their votes after the last hearing,” said Jeremy Martin, part of the coalition of Medford Hillside residents.
Advertisement:
Community Development Board Chair Emily Hedeman thanked those residents “for showing up, consistently.”
“I hope to never see a project like this in front of us ever again, with this sort of horrible community engagement. Horrible community engagement,” she said.
“Totally agree,” Strang said.
After the Board voted last month, Martin said he felt Medford was pressuring the Community Development Board to approve the dorm to “avoid a lawsuit or a fight with Tufts.”
Just before the motion to vote Wednesday, two new zoning items not previously brought before the Board were listed for relief. A 10 minute recess was held, during which Board members and city staff dropped off the virtual meeting, before coming back and voting to approve the building.
The additional items included relief from a limitation on constructing a building in a rear yard setback and relief on a limitation that prevents more than one principal building from being constructed on one lot.
Martin took issue with the fact that the Board was only fully aware of the details of the project a few minutes before the final vote despite four previous hearings, especially because both of those requirements could impact the dorm’s size and bulk.
Advertisement:
“It’s hard to see this as a thorough review when the Board had not been advised of the full scope of the zoning relief that was requested until just before the final vote,” Martin said, adding that “the emergency recess and subsequent explanations by the City raise questions” for him.
Hedeman announced the motion’s passing with what she described as “great reluctance” and told Tufts to “be a better neighbor.”
Patrick Collins, executive director of media relations for Tufts, said the university plans to begin construction on the residence hall this spring.
“We’re pleased that the Community Development Board has approved the project, which will enable the university to house more students on campus, free up housing for working families, and deliver a host of benefits to the community,” he said in a statement to Boston.com.
The goal is to open the dorm in September 2027, Collins said. It will house 677 juniors and seniors and comes with promised investments in the area by Tufts, including increasing the tree canopy and adding crosswalks and sidewalks to both sides of the street, retail options, and a Bluebikes station.
Advertisement:
Martin said several neighbors in the group are strongly considering appealing the decision “based on how the last two hearings played out.”
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com