Weston Historical Commission backs Town Center project, rules outbuilding not significant

WESTON — November 19, 2018 — Weston Historical Commission authorizes general support for Town Center project amid single $13.8 million bid. Co-Chair Phyllis Halpern was authorized to make a statement of conditional support at an upcoming town meeting after public commenter Adrienne Giske of Boston Post Road reported that only one qualifying bid came in for the Town Center renovation — $1.8 million above the $12 million warrant figure — and that a disqualifying 100-page addendum had been sent to bidders just two days before the deadline. The commission voted unanimously that an agricultural outbuilding at 37 Silver Hill Road, sought for demolition by owner Hal Grant, was "not historically significant" under the demolition delay bylaw, clearing the way for a Zoning Board of Appeals special permit process for a new accessory apartment on the site. Members also learned that a firm called Old Bostonian had removed windows from 153 Church Street — a circa-1726 preservation-restricted property — for off-site restoration without prior review, prompting a stop-work order; the commission noted the work was within the spirit of the restriction but that proper review procedures had not been followed.