Another Developer Rides Roughshod Over a Quiet Residential Framingham Neighborhood

A pristine waterfront woodland destroyed illegally with no fines from the city, nor neighborhood consultation. This is a great example of a developer's free for all.

NOTE:

This is a guest article published here to help continue the fight against developers destroying Framingham neighborhoods. We saw the Nobscot Edmands/Edgell debacle, where the Mayor tried to get a 30 acre parcel rezoned for 500 high density multi-family units, with no regard for the Nobscot neighborhood.

The Mayor recently claimed he had no role in that, in comments on the Audrey Hall show, despite a document showing he sought approval from the state on the suitability of that lot for multi-family zoning, and a great deal of other evidence confirming his role in the rezoning effort. Those documents are included in the Audrey Hall show clip description referenced above.

Now we have another developer destroying pristine waterfront woodland abutting the Stearns Reservoir adjacent to Salem End Rd, and aiming to force 47 residential units on a quiet neighborhood, with further environmental damage and creating a traffic nightmare, as 100 cars try to exit the development each morning, entering a wall of traffic, backed up from the Temple St traffic lights.

Here is the letter which the neighborhood group submitted to news media in an attempt to publicize the horrific assault. The lot, which was cleared without getting any of multiple required approvals, is shown here:

Another view of the lot prior to it being cleared is shown here:

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The Letter:

We’re reaching out to bring attention to a deeply troubling development underway at 334–344 Salem End Road in Framingham (also listed as 356–368 Salem End Road as of July 1). This project, which has already caused significant environmental damage, was unfolding in secrecy and in apparent violation of multiple city and state regulations. Much of Salem End Road is also historic, named after the Salem Witch trials.

Despite being zoned R-4 for single-family homes on one-acre lots, the property has been extensively clear-cut without permits, public hearings, or notification to neighbors. Plans have now been quietly submitted to build a three-story, approximately 94-bed dormitory for staff of the New England Center for Children (NECC), whose campus is located in Southborough—not Framingham. The dormitory style building is 300 ft by 70 ft, per plans submitted to the City around September 16th. This means each unit would be less than 500 sq ft for 2 people.

The developer, Pure Life Development LLC—linked to controversial speculator Ding On “Tony” Kwan—has invoked the Massachusetts Dover Amendment, a legal loophole that allows educational institutions to bypass most local zoning controls. NECC admitted in a September 15 letter that it had already signed a lease for the dormitory before any public hearings were held.

Why this matters:

• Neighborhood Impact: Salem End Road is a historic residential street already burdened by traffic. A dormitory housing 94 staff (plans state these staff members will be teachers on H1B visas) and over 100 vehicles will overwhelm local infrastructure. The property, consisting of approximately 4 acres, is zoned for a maximum of only four houses, not even factoring in local and state wetlands buffer zones. When the land was up for sale a few years back, it was advertised as a commercial property, rather than residential, despite being R4 single family house/single acre zoning.

• Environmental Destruction: Over 50% of trees on the property have been removed, violating Framingham’s land disturbance and stormwater ordinances. The site borders Stearns Reservoir and protected wetlands—yet work was done without permits.

• Unpermitted Construction: A chain-link fence was installed just 18 feet from the water, violating the city’s 30-foot “no alteration” and 50-foot “no build” buffer zones.

• Lack of Transparency: Neighbors were misled for months. City officials only responded after legal pressure and a petition. Fines have been postponed, and work had been continuing—often on Friday afternoons when City Hall is closed.

• Zero Benefit to Framingham: NECC’s campus is in Southborough. Framingham absorbs the traffic, density, and environmental impact, while Southborough receives the tax revenue and programming.

Violations

The development’s current actions violate multiple city ordinances and state regulations:

• Environmental Destruction: Over 50% of the trees have been cut, a violation of Framingham’s land disturbance and stormwater management zoning ordinance. This clear-cutting significantly disturbed the wildlife habitat.

• Wetlands Violations: The property abuts the Stearns Reservoir and associated wetlands. Activities were conducted within these regulated Resource Areas and associated Buffer Zones without required permitting, confirmed by the Conservation Administrator.

• Unpermitted Work: City officials confirmed the work was done without prior approval. A recently installed chain-link fence starts just 18 feet from the water, violating the 30-foot “no alteration” and 50-foot “no build” local ordinances.

Developer History: Tony Kwan, who sold part of the property to Pure Life Development in December 2024, has a controversial past—including ownership of the Worcester Cold Storage warehouse where six firefighters died in a 1999 blaze, and he was also the owner of Northborough’s old town hall when a suspicious fire broke out in 1985.

Community Response: Residents have spoken out at two City Council meetings (June 17 and July 15), expressing outrage over the lack of enforcement, transparency, and accountability. We have drone footage, Google Earth comparisons, and photos documenting the destruction. We also have correspondence from city officials confirming violations.

Two City Council Meetings -

1. Framingham City Council Meeting June 17^th -

Neighbors went to the Framingham City Council meeting to talk, on June 17^th – here is the link to the meeting –

http://vod-framingham.cablecast.tv/CablecastPublicSite/show/3461?channel=1

• Neighbor comments start at approximately 4:15 with Martin Quitt and end at around 18:40

• The City Council/Mayor/COO quickly discuss at approximately 34:30 to approximately 38 minutes

Neighbors report a complete lack of transparency, with conflicting stories provided by the developer’s representatives regarding the work. Concerns are mounting that this is “another example of a developer doing what they want with no consequences”. City officials allegedly provided no response until neighbors involved lawyers and submitted a petition.

The developer told the city it would take approximately one month for them to have a site plan together – as of July, that changed to another 3 months.

The fines have also been postponed. Why? A regular citizen would need to pay those fines. There would be no leniency for them.

2. City Council meeting July 15, 2025

Item #5 on the agenda with attachments and links included to some of the correspondence

https://framinghamma.granicus.com/DocumentViewer.php?file=framinghamma_9a6c73d11ecff7e9a7de7d65cfddd756.pdf&view=1

Video is in the link below. It starts around 57:25.

http://207.172.210.8:5002/CablecastPublicSite/show/3473?channel=1&seekto=3446

A couple of important takeaways come out of this meeting –

• Fred Bray stated that fines are not to punish developers nor will they attempt to collect those fines. Fines are simply there to encourage the next steps.

  o Neighbors are frustrated that fines don’t mean anything in Framingham as evidenced in posts in conversations as well as Framingham Unfiltered facebook pages

  o This makes no sense as that gives them free reign to break all the rules they want, and Framingham is starting to be known for this.

• Disagreement about number of trees cut down.

  o CLAWE – hired by Tony Kwan’s team to review trees that have been cut down in the buffer zone. They stated 4 trees were cut, one or two of which were dead.

• Neighbors report seeing stump grinders back in the beginning of May when the trees were originally cut and pictures show dirt moved around, so difficult to determine. Neighbors have diagrams that show the before and after via google earth and then drone footage that appeared on Framingham Unfiltered facebook page.

Peter Pleshaw at one hour thirty minutes sums up the developer situation very well.

What Next?

We’re asking for your help. This story is about more than one development—it’s about the erosion of public trust, environmental stewardship, and the character of Framingham’s neighborhoods. We are available for interviews and can provide access to residents, documentation, and visuals.

Let us know if you’d like to speak with neighbors or review the materials. We believe this deserves public attention.

Please contact David Abramson at dabramson24@gmail.com or Joe Bonanno at jbonanno3919@gmail.com to discuss this critical story.

Sincerely,

A Concerned Neighborhood Group

Sources - We can provide all of the information including correspondence with the City, posts on Framingham Unfiltered along with residents’ comments, communications from city officials confirming violations, photos of bucket trucks, wood chippers, stump grinders and cranes, and a timeline of events.