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Medford committee previews institutional zoning for Medford Tops, flags building height and topography concerns
Summary
City planning consultant Innis Associates and councilors discussed an introductory framework for a proposed Tufts/Medford Tops institutional zoning district, with neighbors raising concerns about building heights, setbacks and topography differences across the Somerville–Medford boundary.
Medford City Council Planning and Permitting Committee members received an introductory briefing June 11 on an institutional zoning framework centered on the Medford Tops/Tufts area, emphasizing building standards, topography and cross‑boundary coordination with Somerville.
The presentation came from Paola Ramos Martinez, chief resilience officer for Innis Associates, who said the intent is to create an institutional district “that makes sense, that we have, a different type of zoning for it” because the current residential districts “are not really anything that has to do with a campus or an institution.”
Why it matters: Tufts facilities straddle the Medford–Somerville boundary; neighbors have repeatedly raised concerns about building heights and how rules should respond to steep topography on the Medford side. The committee heard that Somerville uses a different special‑district…
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