Weston Planning Board straw-polls 3A sites but defers deeper deliberation

WESTON — June 13, 2024 — Weston's third MBTA Communities workshop narrowed roughly a dozen candidate sites to a working short list but ran out of time before substantive deliberation. Planning Board Chair Leslie Glennon said the state Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities rejected the town's request to lower its transit-area requirement from 40 percent to 20 percent, leaving Weston needing 20 acres and 300 units within a half mile of Kendal Green, Wellesley Farms or Riverside. Consultant Diana Marsh said commercial parcels at Biogen, Granite Brook, the former Liberty Mutual site and a MassDOT lease yield 25.95 acres and 300 to 330 units. A hand-raise straw poll on the remaining 60 percent put the Greatland Riverside area, town center and Maplewood tied at 10 votes each. Select Board member Lisa Reyes said she felt "like I'm on a game show," and resident Diana Chiango warned the package could "go down in flames at Town Meeting" without more outreach before the Dec. 3 vote.