Council approves Hospital Road layout with caveat after public concern over unannounced tree removal

Public comments and council discussion over a Marching Street tree removal prompted the Malden City Council to approve a revised Hospital Road layout while clarifying that changes to the Hospital Road–Murray Hill Road intersection are not part of the approval.

Lauren McGillicuddy of Friends of Fellsmere Heights opened public comment to say an evergreen tree at Hospital Road and Murray Hill Road had been taken down without notice during preliminary work. She said the removal caused distress in the neighborhood and reflected a breakdown in communications about a plan that affects residents’ travel lanes and front yards. “Changes to the roads need to be communicated in a collaborative manner,” she told the council.

Council discussion focused on the portion of the plan that the administration asked the council to review: a slight narrowing of the roadway on the side near the pond, with a corresponding widening of the sidewalk, intended as part of a special-permit condition from Planning Board case 23-10. Councilors said the schematic that appeared with the agenda unintentionally included the Murray Hill intersection schematic that had prompted the public complaint. Several councilors and the chair apologized for the confusion and the distress caused by the unannounced tree removal.

Councilor Winslow, sponsor of the order, and other councilors asked that any takings be performed as confirmatory (consensual) takings and that the city not assume acquisition costs. Councilor McDonald proposed — and the council adopted — an amendment to the order specifying that the council’s approval exclude any changes to the Hospital Road–Murray Hill Road intersection and that the city solicitor review the plan prior to final action by the Department of Public Works Commission. The amended approval was then sent to the DPW Commission for final acceptance and to assist the applicant (a hospital) in obtaining a certificate of occupancy; city staff said the project aims for an October ribbon-cutting and December patient intake.

Planner Romero and the city engineer were cited as reviewers; councilors asked DPW staff to use confirmatory takings and to ensure the registry-of-deeds filings clear title and route mitigation or replacement responsibilities to the developer as appropriate. Councilors also said they will work with the tree warden on replacements or compensatory plantings for any trees lost during construction.