Weston Select Board Sends Private Tree Bylaw to Planning Board for Public Hearing

WESTON — March 8, 2022 — Weston Select Board refers draft private tree bylaw to Planning Board, approves gas main and water loan. The board voted unanimously Tuesday to forward the proposed bylaw — years in the making — for Planning Board public hearings expected in March and April ahead of a potential May Annual Town Meeting vote. Under the draft, developers removing trees larger than six inches in diameter during new construction would be required to replant or pay into a town tree fund, on a sliding scale based on tree size and lot location. The board also unanimously approved a National Grid petition to replace roughly one mile of aging gas main on Winter Street with eight-inch plastic pipe, work currently scheduled for spring 2023 and expected to take three to four months. A zero-interest, 10-year MWRA loan of $401,000 for water main work was also approved. Board member Lori framed the tree proposal as correcting a market failure: "The cost to the community is not considered in the decision to remove trees." Architect and developer Mario Alana of 137 Sherborn Circle pushed back, calling it "another huge tax" on property owners facing unavoidable construction requirements.