Wayland Planning Board continues Coptic church hearing to Dec. 3

WAYLAND -- November 12, 2025, Wayland Planning Board continues Coptic church site plan to Dec. 3 after Dover Amendment dispute. The board voted 4-0 to continue the hearing on St. Theophilus and St. Anna Coptic Orthodox Church at 169 Rice Road, with the applicant extending the decision deadline to Dec. 31. Chair Anette S. Lewis pressed applicant's counsel Jonathan Silverstein on whether 24 proposed apartments in Building B qualify as a protected religious use, telling him the board could entertain them as "a separate application" for multi-family housing. The plan envisions a 570-seat church with two roughly 100-foot towers, designed by Tom Kearns of Studio PSK Architects, plus a Sunday school and a diocese center. Traffic peer reviewer Kirsten Brown of Chappell Engineering said a full traffic study is required and noted Sunday parking already exceeds the existing 85 spaces, with 191 proposed against future demand. Abutters' attorney Dennis Tarvi cited Regis College precedent; residents objected to removal of 770 trees, offset by 235 replacements.