Weston Select Board adopts cemetery regulations rewrite, first major update since 1985

WESTON — April 29, 2024 — Weston Select Board unanimously adopts first cemetery regulations rewrite since 1985. The 3-0 vote, taken April 30, codifies a 20-year cumulative residency standard, sets age 75 as the pre-need purchase threshold, caps households at one two-grave casket lot absent a waiver, bars lot owners from doing their own landscaping at Linwood Cemetery, and adopts a new fee schedule pegged near the high end of comparable towns. Departing member Chris Houston, who led the four-year rewrite, said the changes respond to a tightening space crunch: "We've got a couple decades of lifetime left, and we can't allow people that luxury going forward." Resident Paul Donoghue, a 64-year Westonite, urged postponement and a citizen cemetery group; Chair Lori Bent and Clerk Tom Palmer joined Houston in adopting the package anyway. A separate roughly $720,000 Community Preservation Committee gate restoration goes to Town Meeting next Monday.