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Malden planning board recommends technical fix to require site plan review for day cares, schools and religious facilities
Summary
The Malden Planning Board voted to recommend the City Council adopt a zoning table change to make daycare centers, nonprofit schools and religious facilities subject to site plan review citywide, correcting an administrative oversight from a prior ordinance.
The Malden Planning Board voted May 14 to recommend that the City Council ordain a technical amendment making daycare centers, nonprofit schools and religious facilities subject to site plan review in all zoning districts.
The change, introduced as city council paper CCP 185 of 2025, is intended to align the table of use regulations with site plan review rules the city recently adopted, Planner Michelle (city planner) told the joint hearing. “The purpose of the amendments is to render the table of use regulations consistent with the site plan review regulations that were recently ordained,” Michelle said.
The item grew out of an oversight after the city adopted site plan review rules governing educational, religious and child-care facilities. Councilor Steve Winslow, sponsor of the paper, said the amendment is “a technical update” to reflect the original intent of the prior ordinance. “The intent of the amendments we had adopted was to make all these uses subject to site plan review,” Winslow said.
Michelle’s staff report noted the amendment applies to new construction and new uses and occupancies of existing buildings unless exempt under city ordinance or state law. She also identified two subdivision-control preliminary applications that may be exempt from the change under the state permit-extension provisions: CMID069525-2024 (multiple Columbia/Lebanon Street parcels) and CMID069474-2020 (31 Granite Street).
The Planning Board took an advisory vote and recorded a motion recommending approval of the proposed amendments to the City Council. Board members who voted yes on the recommendation include Ken Antonucci, Diane Chuha, Jawadir Ghaber Solasci, Lisa Gray, Patrick Hayes, Eric Henry, Stephanie Stone, Roni Raj Verma and Chuck Ayoven. The recommendation will be forwarded to the full City Council for final action; the council must act within 90 days of the public hearing’s close, placing a deadline of Aug. 12, 2025, if the hearing is closed May 14.
The Planning Board’s recommendation is advisory; the City Council will review the proposed ordinance language, consider any legal or administrative exemptions and decide whether to ordain the amendment. The full text of CCP 185 is available on the City of Malden website and at city planner and city clerk offices for public review.
No public speakers registered formal opposition or support during the hearing portion on this paper; the Planning Board’s discussion focused on clarifying the administrative scope and the limited exemptions.
