Planning Board approves memorandum opposing transit-oriented senior development bylaw

WESTON — November 12, 2019 — Weston Planning Board sharpens its case against a citizens' petition senior-housing zoning amendment. The board voted unanimously Nov. 12 to approve, with extensive edits, a memorandum recommending Town Meeting reject the proposed Transit-Oriented Senior Development bylaw, which would permit an eight-unit project on a single qualifying parcel south of the Silver Hill commuter rail stop. Members incorporated language from Town Counsel Catherine Loughlin warning that because the bylaw stems from a mediated 40B settlement and is "specifically intended to circumvent" Chapter 40B affordable-unit requirements, "a court may find that the stated public purpose of advancing senior housing may be a pretext." The memorandum's closing paragraph calls the bylaw "inconsistent with good planning practice and legally tenuous." The board's Town Meeting slide will lead with spot zoning, lack of affordability, unmet senior-housing need, and inadequate historic preservation safeguards.