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.