Malden Roosevelt Park: HUD Requests Changes To Environmental Document

MALDEN, MA - Malden officials say plans to renovate the city’s Roosevelt Park are continuing to move forward.

The city will need to submit additional documentation to the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), however, as as it navigates an ongoing loan approval process with the agency.

HUD has, indeed, requested additions to an environmental review document that the city submitted back in April, the agency confirmed last week.

“We are confident we will meet the conditions of the loan, including providing additional information in the environmental review,” Malden Director of Strategic Planning & Community Development Debbie Burke subsequently told Patch.

Though its larger environmental report deemed the Roosevelt Park project to be in compliance with federal regulations, Malden did not properly consider environmental justice concerns, HUD said in a letter to the city last month.

Detailed on HUD’s website, these environmental justice concerns center around “ensuring equal protection from environmental and health hazards and providing equal and meaningful opportunity to participate in the decision-making process to achieve a healthy environment.”

Among requests, the city will now need to show documentation that it reached out to environmental justice communities potentially impacted by changes at Roosevelt Park as well as to members of the Salemwood School community. It will need to show that it then involved these communities in its planning of the park project. The city will also need to show that its project will not negatively impact environmental justice communities.

Park holds long history

Roosevelt Park sits off Salem Street in Malden. It dates back to at least 1910, according to city documents, undergoing renovations in the 1990s when the city constructed the Salemwood School. The Salemwood School is directly adjacent to the park, utilizing the space for recess and other school activities.

Over the years, city filings with HUD said the park has “suffered,” with drainage problems and lack of resources, among other things, allowing the park to fall into poor condition.

As such, the city is eying a series of renovations including a new athletic turf field and various drainage measures.

The total project could cost in excess of $3.5 million, prompting officials to pursue a combination of Community Preservation Act dollars, a city bond, a grant and a $1.2 million federal HUD loan as funding sources.

Project faces criticism

The project has faced criticism, as opponents note worries about pollution from products in the synthetic turf. Opponents have also voiced concerns about flooding and “heat island” effects from the turf, worrying that the new park could retain heat more intensely than a grass alternative.

Among other things, some opponents have said they feel locked out of the city’s process on this project, criticizing what they say has been a lack of opportunities for public input.

“It’s wrong for the school, it’s wrong for the neighborhood, it is everything that environmental justice is not,” retired Salemwood School educator and Malden resident Kathy Sullivan said last week.

"I hope, now that HUD has required the City to complete a full Environmental Justice report on the artificial turf project, the city will now finally acknowledge what the residents and stakeholders of the neighborhood have been saying,” fellow project opponent Stefanie Alberto said in a statement.

Alberto highlighted existing turf fields in the area, which she noted has the lowest median household income among Malden census tracts.

HUD approved loan

Contacted last week, a spokesperson for HUD said that the agency approved Malden’s loan application back in December of last year. The approval came with conditions, though, in part requiring the city to complete its environmental review.

The city submitted the review in April. HUD then responded in a new letter on July 21, citing resident complaints and asking the city to revise its review record.

The group Friends of Roosevelt Park, which has opposed the city’s plans, obtained HUD's July 21 letter and shared it on social media last Tuesday.

Project opponents celebrated HUD’s letter last week. The city subsequently responded with a statement, saying it was seeking to correct “misinformation” on the status of the project and the HUD loan, which some said had been rejected.

“We recognize that residents have varying opinions on the Roosevelt Park Project,” the city said in its statement. “Differences in opinion make our community stronger, but misinformation can make it harder for residents to participate.”

Continuing in her statement last Thursday, Burke responded to some resident concerns, calling the topic of heat islands “a citywide challenge that the City is taking very seriously.”

As part of that, she said, city officials have eyed wood-based infill instead of crumb rubber for elements of their Roosevelt Park turf plans.

She additionally cited tree plantings at the site, which she said are aimed at addressing heat island impacts.

“The project also addresses soil contamination concerns and increases flood capacity,” Burke said.

The city now plans to hold an additional community meeting on the project before the end of September, according to Burke.