Weston ZBA Doubles Application Fees to Cover Soaring Herald Ad Costs

WESTON — July 6, 2022 — Weston ZBA doubles residential filing fees as newspaper-of-record costs surge. The Zoning Board of Appeals voted 3-0 at its July 6 meeting to raise the residential variance and special permit fee from $200 to $400 and the commercial equivalent from $300 to $500, after the demise of the Town Crier forced the board to use the Boston Herald for legal notices at roughly $100 per 47-word placement. Chair Jane Carlson and members Winifred Lee and Steve LaRock cast the deciding votes. Associate member Natalie Sawyer reported that informal conversations with the Massachusetts Attorney General's office confirmed the board may charge differentiated fees so long as they are "grounded in the actual cost," but that pending state legislation would not have relieved the print-publication requirement. Town Administrator communications to the board projected a per-case shortfall of roughly $250 under the old fee structure against a $1,800 annual legal-advertising budget. The board called the increase temporary, tasking Sawyer with returning to the AG's office to seek approval for a stripped-down notice format — a single printed line plus a hyperlink and phone number — that could sharply reduce Herald costs and allow fees to come back down.