Somerville Conservation Commission Approves Amended Draw 7 Park Order 4-0

Conservation · Meeting of February 3, 2026

Somerville Conservation Commission approves Draw 7 Park permit amendment, adding stormwater condition. The commission voted 4-0 at a February 3 special meeting to approve an amended order of conditions for the DCR-owned Draw 7 Park near Assembly Row, removing a pedestrian bridge landing plaza from the project's scope and adding 1,048 square feet of MBTA gravel access area. Wetland scientists Devin Herrick and project manager Amanda Gall of Weston and Sampson presented the amendments on behalf of DCR, emphasizing that the total impact area of 137,337 square feet of buffer zone would not change.

Commissioner Newton Tedder pushed for a new special condition requiring two newly proposed drainage manholes to meet Massachusetts stormwater handbook deep-sump-with-hood standards, saying, "I'd like those to be designed to meet the Mass stormwater handbook standards for a deep sump catch basin with a hood." The amendment clears DCR to complete Draw 7 Park and pursue a certificate of compliance independently of the still-ongoing Mystic River Pedestrian Bridge project.

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Source: the Conservation meeting of February 3, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.