Weston keeps Regis senior-housing rezoning off November warrant

Weston’s Select Board voted 4-0 on Oct. 20 to keep a proposed rezoning for senior housing on Regis College land in Weston off the Nov. 23 Special Town Meeting warrant. Weston Townbrief reported the vote; the Weston Observer reported that the Planning Board closed its public hearing on the proposal the following day.

The vote means the proposal will not be considered at the November meeting. It was a decision about the meeting warrant, not a final zoning denial. The Planning Board also voted to discuss the proposed senior-living bylaw at a future meeting.

HYM Investment Group proposed 215 senior-living units on 30 acres at 300 Wellesley St. The project would need both a zoning-bylaw amendment and a special permit. Dividing 215 units by 30 acres gives an average of about 7.2 units per acre across the site. That is a site-wide average, not a description of building height or how development would be distributed across the property.

Select Board Chair John McDonald said the board acted on the last day to add items to the warrant. Board member Rebecca Mercuri said she was concerned the proposal had not been adequately vetted and residents still had questions. Planning Board member Leslie Glynn criticized stopping the bylaw drafting while the board was reviewing it and said she wanted residents to have the chance to consider a senior-living model at Town Meeting.

Supporters, including Engage Weston, backed expanding senior-housing options and helping older residents remain in town. Abutters raised concerns about density, traffic, neighborhood quality of life and the project’s scale. They also argued the proposed bylaw could allow a roughly 399,000-square-foot development in a single-family neighborhood and could apply the same standard to other sizable properties in the district. Those were abutters’ concerns about the bylaw, not a town finding about its legal effect.

Regis CFO Thomas Pistorino said the college’s agreement with HYM depended on zoning approval and would terminate at the end of December without it. HYM said it was evaluating options with Regis, and the property’s future use remains undecided.