Board of Health approves tobacco and microblading permits, debates ADU septic rules

WAYLAND — June 16, 2025 — Wayland Board of Health greenlights two permits and wrestles with septic limits on ADUs. The board voted 5-0 to issue a new tobacco retail permit to One Energy at 78 Boston Post Road — restoring the town's tobacco permit count to 13 after a 2023 lapse — and 5-0 to grant a body-art permit with variances to esthetician Jerry Hopkins for microblading at her existing salon, waiving janitorial-sink and autoclave requirements because all equipment will be disposable. The bulk of the meeting went to the Wayland Housing Partnership, whose Kathleen Boundy and Rachel Bratt pressed the board to interpret April 7 state DEP guidance broadly enough to let homeowners swap dormant bedrooms for ADU flow. The town's health agent said staff already approves bedroom-for-ADU reconfigurations routinely — "we do that all the time" — but the health director rejected any system based on census records of non-use, saying "I don't know how we would do that." Staff also reported a community pool septic failure caused by tree-root intrusion into the distribution box and leach field, prompting a forthcoming maintenance letter.