Wayland EDC sets zoning, tax-base agenda for joint town meetings

WAYLAND — November 14, 2025 — Wayland EDC sharpens tax-base pitch before joint meetings with FinCom and Select Board. Chair Rebecca M. Stanizzi told members Friday that commercial property now accounts for just 2.8 percent of the town's tax base, down from 5 percent when the committee was formed in 2011, and outlined a 15-slide pitch built on three levers: replicating the Alta Oxbow town-land sale model, allowing townhouses as-of-right, and activating MBTA Communities zoning that theoretically permits 904 units. Town Planner Robert Hummel said the town's roughly $300,000 in annual meals-tax revenue flows untouched into the general fund, calling it a "major issue." Design-review member Bill Steinberg is drafting guidelines the committee wants written into zoning because, Hummel said, otherwise "there's no teeth there." The committee unanimously approved September and October minutes and welcomed new member Neeti Singhal Mahajan. Member David Villari, absent, may step down.