Weston approves $12.5M Josiah Smith Tavern restoration at Special Town Meeting

WESTON — December 3, 2019 — Weston voters greenlight $12.5M tavern restoration, reject Silver Hill 40B workaround. The Special Town Meeting approved $12,483,622 to restore the Josiah Smith Tavern at 358 Boston Post Road by a 323-42 vote, drawing $7.8 million from Community Preservation Act reserves and borrowing $4.68 million over 10 years. CPC Chair Steve Ober said the appropriation would drop the CPA balance to roughly $1 million. A citizen-petitioned "Transit-Oriented Senior Development" zoning bylaw aimed at shrinking an approved 10-unit 40B on Merriam Street to eight market-rate senior units failed 216-149, 27 votes short of the two-thirds needed; Planning Board member Alicia Primer called it "the very definition of spot zoning." Voters also renamed the Board of Selectmen the Select Board, 209-41, on a motion from new member Lori Bent, and rejected a $75,000 fire-station waterline transfer 182-112 after the Finance Committee said it belonged in the town center contingency.