The Burlington, MA-based developer just issued its supplemental Environmental Impact Report, the last hurdle that must be cleared before it can start building. The supplemental report is required because the state's environmental office decided that the developer did not adequately respond to all impact issues in its first EIR.

Town planner Denise Gaffey tells GlobeSt.com that the community contends that the report does not address the traffic issues that the project will create in Melrose. "This is very strange for us," she says."The project is right over the border in Stoneham but a lot of the impact will be felt here." She points out that the traffic analysis done by the developer indicates that only 5% of the park's employees will come through Melrose, a figure that the town disputes. But Gaffey notes that in the first EIR process the state's environmental office received more than 200 letters, which impacted the ultimate decision to reject the report. "Our voice is through this process," she says.

Gaffey adds that the development, which is on the grounds of the former Boston Regional Medical Center, is also in the middle of a natural resource, igniting opposition from area environmentalists. Gaffey says that Melrose would like to see Gutierrez scale back the project or see more evidence that it will mitigate the impacts the project will create. "We don't feel the current plan does that," she says. Calls to Gutierrez Cos. were not returned by press time.

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