Weston Conservation Commission Revises Golf Club Pesticide Conditions in Split Vote

WESTON -- May 26, 2026, Weston Conservation Commission votes 4-0-1 to lift golf club pesticide ban in buffer zone. The commission amended Special Condition 48 of the Order of Conditions for the Weston Golf Club at 275 Meadowbrook Road, replacing an outright prohibition on synthetic pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, and non-organic fertilizers within the wetland buffer zone with a requirement that all applications comply with Massachusetts state pesticide and nutrient management regulations. Attorney Barry P. Fogel of Keegan Werlin LLP and golf course superintendent Ayron Gallagher led the applicant presentation, emphasizing that the change would not expand the club's managed turf footprint and that detailed spray records dating to 2015 are on file. Resident Nina Danforth of 86 Wellesley Street spoke against the change, citing a decades-long decline in local bird and insect life. Member Glenn Butcher urged the club to educate golfers about wetland stewardship, and the amended condition requires the club to submit its annual Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources pesticide report to the commission within 10 days of filing.