Weston Select Board approves Case Estates plan with leash-only rule

WESTON — October 13, 2020 — Weston Select Board approves Case Estates management plan, makes property the town's first leash-only conservation land. The board voted 3-0 Oct. 13 to endorse a seven-year Mass Audubon-drafted ecological plan and to restrict the 62.5-acre property to dogs on six-foot leashes, with commercial dog walkers held to the same three-dog limit as the public. Conservation Administrator Emily Shadler said the rule was meant to welcome strollers, seniors and leash-reactive dog owners, while resident Sanford Whitehouse of Radcliffe Road objected that the board was "taking something away from a 50-year resident." The board separately declined to refund any of the $21,600 in 2020 commercial dog-walker fees collected from 21 licensees, but agreed to consider crediting permittees toward 2021 fees. Member Christopher Houston also rolled out a draft $500-per-month road-cut fee schedule, with surcharges of 50 percent in year one and 25 percent in year two, to replace the town's largely-unenforced five-year paving moratorium.