Weston Planning Board Unanimously Backs $420,000 Ash Street Trail Project

WESTON — November 15, 2023 — Weston Planning Board votes unanimously to back a $420,000 Ash Street trail project ahead of special town meeting. The board voted 5-0 at its November 15 meeting to support Article 10, a stone-dust path and sidewalk project that town engineer Jay Lavoie said will close the "missing link" between the Western Reservoir trail and Case Estates, routing roughly 80 percent of the alignment through MWRA land with ADA-compliant access and minimal tree removal. Chair Leslie Glynn and the board declined to attach fiscal caveats to the letter, with Glynn noting the board's role is to evaluate design, not town finances. The board also received a first look at a proposed senior living development at the South Avenue seminary site from SRG Senior Living and Hines, which envisions independent living cottages, assisted living, and memory care units under a new overlay zoning district, with the seminary retaining ground ownership; no formal action was taken. Member Alicia told the SRG team that "contributions to an affordable housing trust are very much less useful to us than the actual construction of affordable units."