Weston ZBA Forms Subcommittee to Fix Incomplete-Application Problem

WESTON -- February 6, 2023, Weston's Zoning Board of Appeals voted unanimously to convene a February 28 working session to rewrite its hearing application materials after members reported that four of roughly seven recent cases required continuances due to incomplete filings. Chair Jane Fisher Carlson and members Wendy Kaplan-Armor and Stephen J. LaRock will form a subcommittee to consolidate the existing "Schedule B" required-information checklist into the main application form, strip all references to an unfilled "zoning administrator" position in favor of "ZBA staff assistant," and sharpen vague submission language, replacing phrases like "please feel free to attach" with mandatory requirements. Building Inspector John Field, advising the board, warned that hard prerequisites for parallel-board approvals risk being turned against the ZBA by sophisticated applicants who can start the statutory 65-day hearing clock by filing directly with the town clerk. The board's existing rules already require written materials at least two weeks before a hearing, but members said most petitioners have never seen that language because it was buried in a document they did not know existed.