Weston Planning Board closes tree bylaw hearing, sets final working session before town meeting

WESTON — April 20, 2022 — Weston Planning Board votes to close public hearing on controversial tree bylaw and schedule a final working session before town meeting. The board voted 5-0 on April 20 to close the public hearing on the Sustainable Tree Initiative zoning bylaw after more than two hours of public testimony, directing staff to finalize language at a noticed working session before the May 9 annual town meeting. Town Planner Emai outlined the latest revisions — including a new option allowing homeowners to preserve interior trees as mitigation credit and a lowered two-inch minimum replacement caliper — while Anna Katarina Wilkins, chair of the Weston Sustainability Committee, told the board the committee "voted in unanimous voices" to support the bylaw. Opponents, including builder Jonathan Buckman and resident Lee Crockett, argued the proposal amounts to spot zoning, calling mitigation costs of roughly $124,800 for a typical 10-tree lot "eight years of taxes." The board also voted 4-0 to close a separate public hearing on article 28, which would give the Planning Board review authority over the town's proposed water-storage construction project at Payne Hill, directing staff to draft a floor amendment for a vote at the May 4 meeting.