Weston Historical Commission to Visit Birch Lane Before Ruling on Demolition Plan

WESTON -- December 17, 2018, Weston Historical Commission defers ruling on Birch Lane affordable housing demolition, schedules site visit. At the December 17 meeting, architect Keith Gross presented revised plans on behalf of the Weston Affordable Housing Foundation to demolish two deteriorated worker cottages at 8, 10, 63, and 16-18 Birch Lane, formerly 216 and 218 Boston Post Road, and replace them with four affordable rental units in two new two-family structures. Co-Chair Phyllis Halpern and other members questioned whether restoration had been fully explored, with one commissioner warning that accepting mold and lead paint as justification for demolition "would leave no houses left in Weston." Neighbors raised concerns about siting, screening, and foundation detailing. The commission voted unanimously to find 153 Church Street, the Coburn-Whittemore House, historically significant and to approve in-kind window reglazing by Old Bostonian, and voted unanimously to raise no objection to demolition of an 1850s Charles River bridge on Recreation Road while requesting details on the MassDOT replacement structure. The commission set a site visit to Birch Lane for the morning of January 22, 2019, with roughly $1,717 remaining in its annual budget.