Weston Planning Board Clears Legal Hurdles for Zero Hemlock Road Subdivision Bid

WESTON — September 21, 2022 — Weston Planning Board clears two legal hurdles for Zero Hemlock Road subdivision but defers waiver questions to October 19. Town Counsel Jonathan Murray of KP Law told the board Wednesday that a formerly non-buildable lot can be recombined and made buildable and that the Zero Hemlock parcel holds sufficient easement rights — established in a 1928 agreement and confirmed in 1946 and 1955 deeds — to access Boston Post Road over Hemlock Road, though neighbors Alan Simmons and Mike Nerczynski pressed Murray on whether those travel rights are the same as the legal authority to extend the road and create frontage for a parcel with only 33 feet against a 50-foot requirement. The board also closed, 4-1, the public hearing on a day care sign at 863 Boston Post Road after the applicant argued his 28.3-square-foot carved wooden sign was comparable to the Goddard School's 29-square-foot sign in Waltham, while board members countered the site sits within the Boston Post Road National Register Historic District; a final written decision is expected at the October 12 meeting. Chair Leslie Glynn noted the town hopes to launch its first master plan in roughly 47 years after a presentation by Metropolitan Area Planning Council director of strategic initiatives Eric Cove on the newly adopted Metro Common 2050 regional plan.