MEDFORD — Despite concerns expressed by neighborhood residents and one city official, the Medford Zoning Board of Appeals approved a plan by Tufts University to convert 13 properties in the West Medford-Hillside area to student housing.
The 13 houses are all owned by Tufts, and despite being used for student housing, 12 of the properties will continue to generate nearly $100,000 in annual property tax payments to the city.
The houses are all located on Bellevue Street, Capen Street, Fairmount Avenue, University Avenue and Winthrop Street, and are all two-family and one-family homes that already house some students. The other uses are housing for staff and faculty and some contain Tufts administrative offices.
The Zoning Board approved Tufts’ request to make dimensional changes to the 13 residential properties and construct one new home where a large garage now sits. No demolition is planned at any of the other sites.
Altogether, some 145 students will live in the residences and 100 beds will be added overall. Tufts officials say that just over 700 students now live off-campus in Medford. It is expected that that number will surpass 800 when the new changes are made.
Tufts did not need approval from the Zoning Board to convert the properties to student housing, although any property owner who needs exemption from dimensional, parking or other controls, does need agreement from the board. Tufts sought and received approval for area, width and depth regulations and parking requirements, since none of the homes have off-street parking.
The Zoning Board included a provision that no student cars will be allowed to be parked on neighborhood streets unless they have a medical condition or disability. Also none of the bedrooms may have more than one student and Tufts must approve any gatherings or events in any of the homes or the neighborhood before they are held.
Medford School Committee member Erin DeBenedetto appeared at the meeting and spoke against the proposal, saying she did not want to see the neighborhood lose its character. “This is the Hillside neighborhood, not a Tufts neighborhood,” she said. “We want it to stay that way.”
One Zoning Board member said the alternative suggested by some of those in attendance, for Tufts to build a new dorm, would be worse than the present conversion plan. “The homes are going to remain intact. If (Tufts) built a dorm on some of those lots, it would be a significant change to that neighborhood.”
