Planning Board removes Kendall Common from estate-focused Historic Heritage Overlay

WESTON — January 20, 2021 — Weston Planning Board narrows estate-preservation bylaw and continues hearing to March 17. The board on Jan. 20 voted 5-0 to remove the modernist Kendall Common neighborhood from the proposed Historic Heritage Overlay District and pursue it separately under the town's existing Local Historic District bylaw, while continuing the public hearing on the estate-focused overlay. Chair Alicia Primer said the overlay's flexibility tools — including density transfer into existing structures and accessory apartments inside historic homes — are calibrated for large estates, not the smaller Kendall Common lots. Adam and Carrie Marcus, recent purchasers of 55 Love Lane, told the board the listing of their property felt like "a big ask for someone that hasn't even lived in the property yet." Attorney Kevin Kerr, representing 99 West Cliff Road, raised "equal protection" and spot-zoning concerns. Member Steven Oppenheimer floated an opt-in structure; Primer said opt-in alone would provide "zero protection."