Somerville Urban Forestry Committee to draft memo urging berm preservation at 90 Washington

Other Committee · Meeting of April 16, 2026

Somerville Urban Forestry Committee moves toward a formal memo urging preservation of the green berm at 90 Washington Street. Miles Byrne, a development director with Corcoran Jenison, told the committee the Somerville Redevelopment Authority is weighing suspension of the 15 percent green-space zoning requirement to recoup $39 million spent on the site, land a court valued at five times the city's original $8 million payment, putting a berm containing 38 trees and serving roughly 300 elderly Cobble Hill residents at risk. Co-chair Leah Grossman said two redevelopment proposals have been submitted, with the city council set to review them May 11 and a final developer selection expected by July 1.

Members Tori Antonino, Marion, and Suzanne Warner volunteered to form a subcommittee and draft a memo that could call on the SRA to reject any proposal that fails to preserve the berm. The committee also received a presentation from city Senior Public Space Planner John Bronikant on the Kennedy School inclusive playground renovation, which requires removing up to 16 trees and will plant 32 new ones, with the committee rejecting Japanese zelkova as a replacement species and urging 100 percent native plantings.

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Source: the Other Committee meeting of April 16, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.