Current Zoning Proposals

The City Administration and City Council, together with zoning consultant Innes Associates, are comprehensively reviewing and updating Medford’s zoning ordinance. This process involves the whole City: squares, major corridors, and residential neighborhoods.

See current zoning proposals below:

Tufts/Boston Ave Zoning Proposal

Current zoning and land use

Goals of this zoning

The purpose of the Boston Avenue Neighborhood Corridor District (BANCD) is to allow a mix of uses, including residential, multifamily, and commercial, to meet the following needs:

Wider variety of uses and building types to support jobs and economic development near established residential neighborhoods, providing options for living within walking distance of jobs, goods, and services and the Green Line T stations.
Fluid transitions to and from the Tufts University campus to allow an integrated approach to living working and learning along Boston Avenue from the Somerville line north of Stoughton Street to the Somerville border at Ball Square.
Mixed-use, multifamily, and commercial uses at a density to reinforce non-vehicular travel between the adjacent neighborhoods to the jobs, goods, and services within the BANCD.
Development standards to provide landscape and height buffers from new construction within the BANCD for the existing abutting neighborhoods.

Proposed zoning

Proposed Zoning - Boston Avenue Corridor: Upper Hillside

Proposed Zoning - Boston Avenue Corridor: South

The BANCD would replace the existing zoning districts and is shown on the zoning maps above. If approved, an applicant could develop within these districts in accordance with the provisions of Section 94-9.8 and other relevant sections of the Zoning Ordinance.

The BANCD is comprised of the following subdistricts:
1. BA-1. This mixed-use subdistrict allows a mix of residential and commercial uses at a lower scale of building size and massing.
2. BA-2. This mixed-use subdistrict allows a mix of residential and commercial uses at a medium scale of building size and massing.
3. BA-3. This mixed-use subdistrict allows a mix of residential and commercial uses at a larger scale of building size and massing.

Read more about what is included in the current zoning proposal here .

Boston Ave Interactive Zoning Map

Public meeting documents and recordings

6/24/26: City Council and Community Development Board Joint Meeting presentation
- This file includes videos. To watch the embedded videos, you need to download the file and open it with Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat. This file is very large, we do not recommend downloading on a phone. View the proposed zoning for Boston Av.
6/11/26: City Council and Community Development Board Joint Meeting presentation and video
6/3/26: City Council and Community Development Board Joint Meeting presentation and video
6/1/26: Boston Ave Public Information Session presentation and meeting video
5/13/26: City Council and Community Development Board Joint Meeting presentation
4/30/26: Public Info Session - Tufts/Boston Ave Zoning Proposal
4/22/26: City Council Planning and Permitting Committee meeting presentation

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