Planning Board reviews Route 20 master plan, sets March 12 MBTA hearing

WAYLAND -- February 13, 2024, Wayland's Planning Board pushed back on parallel parking and a Pelham Island Road redesign in a draft Route 20 master plan. Consultant Randy Collins of Beta Group Inc. presented a three-phase vision for mixed-use buildings of two to two-and-a-half stories built to the sidewalk, with parking hidden behind, citing 2023 polling in which 78 percent of respondents favored traffic calming and 87 percent wanted better Town Hall-to-center connectivity. Board member Dan Hill and resident Albert Ning warned MassDOT would likely reject on-street parking, and resident Becky Stanizzi urged dropping it: "I doubt MassDOT would let us have those parking spaces, nor I think do we want them." Wayland School of Music director Penny Wayne Shapiro said affordable commercial space is already scarce. Chair Anette S. Lewis said revisions will come within a month. The board also advanced its MBTA Communities zoning bylaw toward a March 12 public hearing, setting 50-foot minimum frontages and 30-foot front setbacks across four overlay districts.