Historical Commission finds Birch Lane cottages significant, sets January demolition hearing

WESTON — November 17, 2020 — Weston Historical Commission finds two 1900 Birch Lane cottages significant and schedules a Jan. 5 hearing on their proposed demolition. The unanimous vote sends Weston Affordable Housing's plan — to tear down 8 and 16 Birch Lane and replace them with one duplex now and possibly a second later — to public hearing. Presenter Keith Gross said rehabilitation pencils out above $600,000 per unit against roughly $420,000 to $440,000 for new construction, and that the Community Preservation Committee rejected the rehab funding as excessive. The commission also approved stone-wall extensions at 171 Church Street under that property's 2002 preservation restriction, voted unanimously to send Building Inspector John Field a letter on the deteriorating 770 Boston Post Road property — which a structural report found "economically viable and salvageable" — and approved a letter supporting member Alicia's reappointment over Select Board concerns about her also chairing the Planning Board.