Weston Planning Board Deadlocks on Tree, Flags DPW Easement as Policy Concern

WESTON -- January 7, 2026, Weston Planning Board split 2-2 on a backyard tree dispute and raised concerns about a novel DPW easement arrangement at its January 7 meeting. The tie vote on a Certificate of Action amendment at 501 Glen Road, where owners Joshua and Bahar Cohen planted a replacement sugar maple in the front yard rather than the backyard location specified in their approval, will be decided by Member Jing Yu, who was absent, at the January 21 meeting. Vice Chair Alex Selvig led skepticism over a 35 Bemis Street application in which the Weston DPW disclosed it would offset the cost of a stormwater easement against the added property value from a Planning Board-approved attic finish, saying the arrangement carried "the appearance of one town department advocating for us to take a position on what a developer is proposing to do." The board continued the Bemis hearing to February 4 and scheduled a policy discussion for its January 28 strategy session. The board voted unanimously to approve removal of a structurally compromised tree at 150 Chestnut Street and to ask DPW to attempt mitigation on a second tree at 100 Chestnut before making a final removal call, while finding substantial non-conformance at 146 Conant Road where a fence was installed along the property line rather than behind an existing stone wall as approved.