Wayland boards defend MBTA Communities overlay at public forum

WAYLAND -- April 24, 2024, Wayland boards make their case for a 50-acre MBTA Communities overlay ahead of May 13 town meeting. Planning Board Chair Annette Lewis and Select Board Chair Bill Whitney presented Article 26, which would create four sub-districts, 7.8 acres on Route 20 West, 5.8 acres at River's Edge, 11.5 acres in Town Center and 25.1 acres at Stone Ridge Village, designed to demonstrate capacity for 750 units at 15 units per acre. Finance Committee Co-Chair Steve Correa warned that non-compliance would put at risk the $4.2 million in state grants Wayland received in 2023, including a pending $1 million Snake Brook dam grant. Coltsway homeowners including Kathy Steinberg and Bill Blum objected that their 18-home neighborhood had been singled out, with Blum calling it "not some unnamed parcel." Town planner Robert Hummel predicted the Mainstone parcel would look "exactly like it looks now."