Planning Board endorses Charena Road subdivision, opens Route 20 zoning rewrite

WAYLAND -- July 9, 2025, Wayland Planning Board endorses 13 Charena Road subdivision and launches Route 20 zoning overhaul. Members voted 5-0 to sign final mylar plans after Chair Anette S. Lewis directed that a 10-foot pavement allowance, where the bylaw requires 20 feet, be flagged as a condition rather than a plan note on future projects. The board then spent more than an hour on the Route 20 corridor, with the town planner recommending a new "planned redevelopment" base zone to replace the patchwork of business A, business B, limited commercial and light manufacturing districts. "I'm concerned about having an overlay. We have so many overlays of overlays of overlays," Lewis said. Vice Chair Robin Borgestedt noted that roughly 10,000 gallons of remaining wastewater capacity, 15 gallons per restaurant seat versus 110 per bedroom, will dictate the realistic mix of uses. The board also flagged a conflict between its outdoor-seating bylaw and a Select Board policy routing approvals through the town manager.