The city of Medford restarted its rezoning project last month with a primary focus on rezoning Medford Square. It is the first proposal heard in the new City Council term, and the first since the city signed a contract extension with Innes Land Strategies Group — the consulting group that provides analysis and recommendations for the city’s rezoning.
In a joint committee meeting between the Medford City Council and the Community Development Board on Jan. 21, Innes presented an early proposal to rezone Medford Square. The plan would allow for mixed-use development to economically revitalize the area while aiming to preserve historical homes and buildings.
Danielle Evans, senior planner at the Office of Planning, Development and Sustainability, emphasized the importance of mixed-use zoning in revitalizing Medford Square.
“We want to create more housing in the square. That is important for economic development, to have folks in top-of-shop apartments or condos that can patronize the ground floor businesses,” Evans said. “The idea is that these people wouldn’t [have] to drive to the square. They would be there so that would promote more vibrancy, walkability.”
While Medford Square serves as an economic hub, much of the area contains historical structures that are not currently protected from demolition. According to the 2023 Medford Comprehensive Plan, the city prioritizes protecting historical sites.
City Councilor Matt Leming said new ordinances will be needed to preserve specific buildings in Medford Square.
“The idea is that you want to preserve historic buildings, especially the outside of them, but their uses can potentially change over time,” Leming said. “The concerns then are with a lot of the historic buildings on private property, and that’s where [Medford needs] ordinances that strongly incentivize developers, make it so that it’s more in their financial interest to keep those buildings and convert them rather than tear them down.”
Rezoning will involve a months-long process throughout which the City Council and the Community Development Board will meet multiple times with city officials to discuss revisions and hold community meetings for residents.
Previous zoning proposals did not have joint public hearings, where residents are able to hear both the board’s zoning proposals and the City Council’s deliberations on the projects. Evans said this change is intended to improve transparency and accessibility.
“Residents can come to one meeting and provide their input and comments, and both bodies can hear it,” Evans said. “I’m hoping that this streamlines it and makes it easier for residents to stay engaged and keep track of what meetings [they] should be at.”
The city is also planning to hold public information sessions about the Medford Square rezoning in coming months at the Medford Senior Center and Medford Public Library.
Zoning was a major point of contention during Medford’s municipal elections last fall. Critics of earlier proposals cited the lack of transparency as a key issue, while some Community Development Board members felt what Evans described as “severe burnout” due to the pace and workload of past zoning initiatives.
Evans highlighted how more community meetings and a specific focus on Medford Square would help to reduce concerns surrounding a rushed process.
“The agreement between the mayor’s office and City Council to restart the zoning really sets a pace that’s more manageable, and there’s going to be a much more robust community outreach piece to this, trying to get more folks aware and involved, and not to be too much of a scattered process as it was before,” Evan said. “There were just too many zoning proposals open at the same time. It was hard to follow.”
At their Dec. 16 meeting, the City Council voted to divide the Medford Square rezoning effort into two proposals, one for Medford Square and another for West Medford Square, which was referred to the Planning and Permitting Committee. Evans explained that this approach would allow city staff to focus more deliberately on Medford Square in a timely manner.
“With a slower pace, city staff can be more in the weeds with [Innes] to be able to check and make sure if things are going in the right direction,” Evans said. “In the planning office, most of us live and work here, so we really know the area very well.”
While Tufts has recently been accused of not contributing enough to the Medford community, in particular with reference to the university’s Payment In Lieu Of Taxes agreement, Rocco DiRico, Tufts’ associate vice president of government and community relations, wrote in a statement to the Daily that the university continues to encourage its community to engage with and support Medford Square.
“Tufts University students play a vital role in the vibrancy of Medford Square,” DiRico wrote. “It is the university’s hope that our students will visit the square often to eat at a local restaurant, catch a show at the Chevalier Theatre or Deep Cuts, or shop at a locally owned small business.”
DiRico also advertised a shuttle service between Medford Square and Tufts that is slated to launch in August 2027 following the opening of the new Boston Avenue dorm.
