Malden Planning Board unanimously approves Broadway warehouse after months of negotiations

MALDEN -- January 25, 2022, Malden Planning Board votes 9-0 to approve a 94,000-square-foot warehouse at the long-troubled Town Line Motel site on Broadway. The board granted a special permit to Pew Management LLC, acting on behalf of Motel Realty Company Inc., for the property at 320 State Highway and 735 Broadway after tabling the matter since September 2021 to resolve truck traffic concerns. The revised site plan, presented by John Pugh of Pew Management, reroutes tractor-trailers to a new deceleration lane off Route 1 and uses a channelized island to block left-turn exits onto Broadway from the southern driveway. The approved community benefits and mitigation package totals $1 million, including a $500,000 traffic escrow account, $200,000 toward a Linden Park ice skating rink, $100,000 for Broadway traffic calming, and $50,000 for youth athletic improvements. Ward 8 Councillor Jadine Sika, speaking in favor, said the motel had generated more than 600 calls for first responders in a single year; Ward Councillor Ryan O'Malley spoke in opposition, warning that heavy truck weight would damage city roads regardless of volume counts.