Malden planning board OKs Rainbow Adult Day Health Center at Broadway Plaza

The Malden Planning Board on Wednesday granted a special permit allowing Rainbow Adult Daycare Center of Malden LLC to open an adult day health center at 54 Broadway in Broadway Plaza.

The board approved the permit by roll-call vote after a motion by Ken Antonucci and a second from Pat Hayes; the motion passed with all voting members present voting yes. The vote follows a staff report, a peer review of a traffic impact study and testimony from the petitioner and the property owner.

Board staff and the petitioner told the board the center would occupy roughly 19,756 square feet of an approximately 27,000-square-foot storefront and could be built out to serve up to 200 participants at full capacity. Attorney Patrick McDonnell, representing the petitioner, said the business would operate Monday through Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., use a fleet of shuttle vans to transport participants, and maintain medical staff as required by the Commonwealth.

"They could help as many as 200 people, if allowed to go forward," McDonnell said, describing the facility's maximum capacity and business model.

Why it matters: the board found the proposed use would meet local special-permit standards if the conditions recommended by planning staff and the city's peer reviewer are met. Those conditions are intended to reduce traffic and safety risks, clarify parking and snow-storage arrangements, and require updated site plans and on-site improvements before or soon after opening.

Key facts and conditions

- Use and capacity: Rainbow will operate an adult day health center licensed by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and intends to provide on-site medical staff; state rules require one registered nurse per 25 clients, the petitioner said.

- Hours and services: Proposed hours are 7:30 a.m.‒4 p.m., Monday‒Saturday. Operators said most participants spend about five to six hours on-site, with occasional supervised outings and medical appointments.

- Staffing and vehicles: The petitioner said the site would start with about 12–18 staff on site and initially four shuttle vans; at maximum build-out the business could require roughly 35 staff and 14–15 vans. "We usually start probably 25 people. And, within a year, we hope to get, like, to 60 to 70 participants a day," said Paul Rave, principal of Rainbow Adult Daycare.

- Parking and parking relief: Planning staff calculated the plaza would require 911 parking spaces for all uses after the new tenant is added; the site plan in the record shows roughly 770 spaces (the property owner reported 792). The petition increases the plaza's calculated required parking and creates a shortfall under the zoning formula. The city's peer reviewer recommended reduced on-site parking for the adult day health center because most participants will arrive by shuttle and recommended other mitigations.

- Required on-site improvements and conditions: The board's approval includes conditions that the property owner and tenant must satisfy, including but not limited to: submitting an updated, stamped site/survey plan showing parking counts and aisle widths; installing or reconstructing ADA-compliant wheelchair ramps subject to city approval; re-striping crosswalks with thermoplastic ladder patterns; installing pedestrian signage across the two primary crossings in front of the tenant space; updating fire-lane pavement markings to NFPA 1 standards; providing secure, weather-protected bicycle parking; and implementing a transportation demand management program for employees (including a transit-pass subsidy and ride-matching as described in the peer-review recommendations).

- Shuttle vehicle parking: The board directed the property owner to reserve six short-term spaces near the tenant for morning and afternoon shuttle loading/unloading and agreed to designate up to 15 spaces at the rear of the property for long-term and overnight parking of shuttle vans as needed.

- Prohibited services: The planning staff recommended and the board's conditions prohibit on-site massage and acupuncture rooms that would be defined by the zoning ordinance as licensed massage therapy salons and therefore not accessory to an adult day health center; the rooms labeled "massage" and "acupuncture" on the floor plan may instead be used for other activities permitted in an adult day health center.

- Site maintenance and trash: Planning staff and the property owner agreed that the owner will remove existing litter and implement a daily trash-and-litter-management program for the entire plaza. Peter Finn, a City of Malden health inspector, warned in an emailed inspection note that operators and tenants must correct unacceptable trash storage conditions and will receive formal orders to correct violations if needed: "They will have 24 hours from receipt of my order to remove and properly [accumulations] of garbage, refuse, and rubbish at all times," Finn wrote.

What board members asked and what staff flagged

Board members asked about safety during pick-up and drop-off, routing and size of shuttle vans, trash and dumpster enclosures, snow storage, and how the children's educational use in the same storefront will be kept separate. The petitioner and owner said pick-up and drop-off would be supervised, typically use six designated front spaces (not the curb fire lane), and that vans are generally 12-passenger vehicles. Paul Rave said build-out would take at least six months and that lunches may be prepared on-site or provided through a catering contract; most participants' meals are covered by Medicaid or similar programs, the petitioner added.

Staff's review noted snow-storage shortfalls and tree/bicycle-parking deficiencies on the existing site plan (staff calculated roughly 15,599 square feet of snow-storage shown versus about 30,800 square feet required for the number of car spaces counted). The board's conditions require the owner to supply an updated survey and to show and implement required landscaping, screening, loading, and snow-storage arrangements or off-site hauling as needed.

Quotes

"They could help as many as 200 people, if allowed to go forward," Attorney Patrick McDonnell said, describing the petitioner's maximum capacity.

"We usually start probably 25 people. And, within a year, we hope to get, like, to 60 to 70 participants a day," Paul Rave, principal of Rainbow Adult Daycare, said when asked about startup volumes.

"We're really excited about bringing this use to Malden," Katie Campion, vice president of asset strategy and development for WS Development, said on behalf of the property owner.

"The proposed rooms labeled massage and acupuncture may be used for an allowed adult day health center activity," Michelle Romero, planning staff, said while summarizing zoning restrictions and staff recommendations.

Next steps and timing

The special permit is approved with conditions. The property owner and tenant must submit an updated, stamped site plan showing the agreed improvements and counts and must coordinate any off-site or city-owned improvements (such as ADA ramps or relocation of a bus-stop receptacle) with the city and the MBTA. The petitioner estimated at least a six-month build-out before operations begin.

Background and context

The application sought a special permit under the city's zoning code for a preexisting nonconforming property in the Highway Business district. The petitioner operates multiple Rainbow adult day programs in the region and told the board it has existing centers in Allston, Brighton, Dorchester, Quincy, Waltham, Lynn and Needham. Planning staff and the city's peer reviewer concluded the proposed use would be low impact on traffic if the shuttle model and the recommended mitigation measures are implemented.