Planning Board closes hearing on senior-housing bylaw drafted around one parcel

WESTON — November 6, 2019 — Weston Planning Board closes hearing on senior-housing bylaw tailored to a single Silver Hill parcel. The board voted Nov. 6 to close the public hearing on the Transit-Oriented Senior Development (TOSD) bylaw amendment and continued deliberations to a special meeting Nov. 12. Chair Anthony Flynn and member Leslie Glynn recused; member Steve chaired the item. Petitioner Susan Scott told the board the bylaw responds to a senior-housing shortage, citing 166 senior-designated units against a 60-plus population near 3,300; the citizen petition gathered more than 240 signatures. If approved by Town Meeting, the bylaw would clear the way for an eight-unit senior development at 255 Merriam Street, replacing a previously permitted 10-unit Chapter 40B project — and eliminating the two affordable units that project would have produced. Town Counsel warned of spot-zoning exposure because no other parcel in town qualifies, saying "a court could look behind this and say, perhaps this is a pretextual purpose." Attorney Mark Bobrowski, mediating the dispute, countered that "the doctrine of spot zoning has collapsed in a heap over the past 20 years."