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Board of Appeals approves parking variance for Delight Medicals at 616 Broadway
Summary
The Malden Board of Appeals approved a parking-variance request for Delight Medicals, allowing a planned expansion at 616 Broadway despite a deficiency in on-site parking after the applicant closed one curb cut to address neighbors' concerns.
The Malden Board of Appeals on May 21 approved a parking-variance request that will let Delight Medicals expand its building at 616 Broadway despite a shortfall of on-site parking.
The variance permits the medical-supply retailer to proceed with plans that will enlarge the building from about 2,500 square feet to roughly 4,500 square feet while providing seven on-site parking spaces where the zoning calculation would call for 17 spaces. The board approved the petition by a recorded vote after the applicant said he closed an adjacent curb cut to reduce neighborhood impacts.
Attorney Patrick McDonald, who represented Delight Medicals and its principal, Anthony Uday, told the board the business — a long-running Malden supplier — will be a lower-intensity retail use than the property's prior occupant, a class-2 used-car dealer. McDonald said the zoning standard for “retail sales” requires four parking spaces per 1,000 square feet, and that a 4,500-square-foot building would therefore require 17 spaces. He added that the revised plan yields seven spaces because the Baird Street curb cut has been closed to address neighbor concerns.
McDonald also said the business’s operations are primarily drop-ship: “approximately 97% of his business … does not involve anybody coming to his lot to purchase it.” He told the board that deliveries are infrequent (about once a week) and that most orders come from hospitals and other institutions.
Ward Councilor Steven Winslow spoke in support, saying he has visited the business and had not observed parking problems at the petitioner’s prior locations. The applicant submitted three letters of support, McDonald said.
Discussion at the hearing focused on the lot’s unusual shape and the steps the owner took to reduce neighborhood impacts by closing the Baird Street curb cut and reactivating the Broadway access. The board recorded a formal motion to approve the petition (25-002) made by Member Maria Desposito and seconded by Member King; Member Sherwin recused himself and Member Alex Yu sat in for that vote. The board voted to approve the variance.
The approval legalizes the planned expansion with the stated parking deficiency; no appeal or further conditions were stated at the hearing.
