Weston Planning Board Backs Expanded Energy Code, Closes Three Site Plan Hearings

WESTON — January 18, 2023 — Weston Planning Board votes to support the state's expanded stretch energy code and closes three site plan hearings. The five-member board, chaired by Leslie Glynn, voted 4-0 at its January 18 meeting to back the Sustainability Committee's pursuit of Level C, the state's expanded stretch code opt-in, which would apply to new residential construction over 4,000 square feet and additions over 1,000 square feet. Sustainability Coordinator Julie Gagan told the board that at least 22 comparable communities — including Watertown, Wellesley, Lexington, and Concord — have already adopted or are bringing the measure to their spring town meetings, and that the code is a simple majority vote, not a two-thirds zoning bylaw change. The board also unanimously continued the disputed zero Church Street flexible subdivision to February 15 after attorneys for the applicant and the Wilson abutters clashed over whether Planning Board Rules Section 4.23 bars the board from waiving a 15-foot road buffer requirement without the abutters' written consent. Public hearings were closed on a 13,011-square-foot new house at 297 Meadowbrook Road and a modest addition at 30 Country Drive, both with landscaping conditions requiring greater use of native species.