Weston Planning Board begins reckoning with state's 750-unit multifamily zoning mandate

WESTON -- December 6, 2023, Weston Planning Board opens public debate on state mandate to zone for 750 multifamily housing units. Town Planner Emai Ayu briefed the board at its December 6 meeting on Section 3A of Massachusetts zoning law, which requires communities served by commuter rail to allow multifamily housing at a minimum density of 15 units per acre across at least 50 acres, yielding a minimum of 750 units of as-of-right capacity, by fall 2024 Town Meeting. Chair Leslie Glynn said the decision belongs to the full community, not the Planning Board alone: "It's got to be a town decision, because the town will bear the brunt one way or the other." Member Alex Selvig warned Weston could become a test case, saying, "I think Weston is the exact community where somebody's going to make a target out of us if we don't comply." The board agreed to seek time before the Select Board as its first priority, with no date yet confirmed. In other action, the board continued a public hearing on a scenic road permit for 121 Church Street after member Adrienne Giske argued that a $210,000 town-purchased preservation restriction bars any alteration to the Church Street stone wall for the installation of a water main meter pit or fire hydrant.