Select Board strips $30,000 developer payment from Silver Hill agreement

WESTON — September 8, 2020 — Weston Select Board strips $30,000 payment from Silver Hill developer ahead of outdoor Town Meeting. Chair Chris Houston said the developer of 255 Merriam Street / 11 Hallett Hill agreed to drop the payment — originally added to compensate him for delaying a construction season — rather than "jeopardize" zoning articles 24 and 25, which trade an already-permitted 10-unit 40B for an eight-unit project with one affordable unit. Resident Terry told the board the payment "appears that it was made in reaction to a threat." Houston defended the original deal as economically equivalent to legal fees spent fighting 40Bs at 133 Boston Post Road and 518 South Avenue. The board also raised transfer station stickers $15 to $255, set water rates 10 percent higher to $2.20/$6.60/$13.20 across three tiers on Director of Finance Susan Kelly's analysis, and interviewed six finalists — including realtor Diana Chaplin, architect Neil Levitt and Berkshire Residential's Peter Herbst — for two at-large seats on the new Housing Production Plan Steering Committee.