Weston ZBA Denies Pool House Variance After Petitioner Fails to Appear

WESTON — March 14, 2022 — Weston ZBA dismisses pool house variance and delays accessory apartment case over attorney ethics concerns. The Weston Zoning Board of Appeals voted 3-0 at its March 14 meeting to deny without prejudice a variance request by Beech Tree Construction LLC on behalf of Timothy Clifford for a pool house and squash court at 100 Black Oak Road after neither Clifford nor his representative appeared. Chair Jane Carlson and members Winifred Lee and Natalie Sawyer then opened but immediately continued a second, more complex petition by Joan Ellen Pichard for 154 Church Street, which seeks a special permit for an accessory apartment and a determination of the ZBA's regulatory authority under multiple sections of the Weston Zoning Bylaw. Replacement counsel Robert Anthony Nolan disclosed he had received only an informal oral opinion from the State Ethics Commission hours before the meeting clearing him to appear in place of his law partner, M. Elizabeth Nolan, who may be barred under MGL Chapter 268A Section 18 because she had previously served as town clerk. Sawyer flagged unresolved questions about whether the partner's potential prohibition taints materials already filed with the board. The hearing was continued to March 31 at 7:30 p.m. via Zoom, with supplemental submissions due by March 25 and town counsel from KP Law invited to advise on both the ethics questions and the underlying bylaw authority dispute.