Weston panel votes to restrict parking near Cat Rock, debates Route 30 ethics conflict

WESTON -- March 11, 2026, Weston's Traffic and Sidewalk Committee voted unanimously to recommend resident-only parking restrictions on Indian Hill Road and Winthrop Circle, setting up a joint pitch to the Select Board on March 24. Temporary chair Ann Wiedie guided the four-to-nothing vote, which pairs the signage recommendation with a Conservation Commission request for warrant funding to build a six- to eight-car gravel lot at the Cat Rock Park trailhead, a project Town Engineer Jason Lavoie estimated would take less than a month to build once funded. The meeting also turned contentious when member Jay Doyle raised a potential conflict of interest for committee member Rebecca Mercuri, an abutter at 502 South Avenue along the 3.7-mile Route 30 corridor; Mercuri declined to recuse herself, citing the de minimis size of her frontage and her completion of state ethics training, while two residents publicly called for recusal and Wiedie said she would feel better with a formal State Ethics Commission opinion before any vote. Design consultant Howard Stein Hudson presented a pre-75 percent Route 30 design showing 360 trees identified for removal and a proposed replacement plan including 81 trees, 158 tall shrubs, and 298 low shrubs; the committee set public forums for May 12 and May 14 at the Police Training Room.