Wayland Planning Board Continues Hobbs Road Hearing, Seeks Binding Nonprofit Lease

WAYLAND -- July 8, 2026, Wayland Planning Board extends Hobbs Road supportive living hearing to August 26 over unresolved Dover Amendment status. The board voted 5-0 Wednesday to continue the public hearing on a proposed six-unit facility at 1 Hobbs Road, developed by Oak Tree Management with Minuteman Arc as the nonprofit partner, setting a new decision deadline of September 25, 2026. Chair Anette S. Lewis told applicant attorney Mark Lanza and Minuteman Arc representative Andy Rickert that the existing non-binding letter of intent between the parties fails to satisfy Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 40A, Section 3, which requires the educational nonprofit to either own the land or hold a binding lease before the Dover Amendment's protections can apply. "Under the Dover Amendment, to be eligible for Dover Review, you would either need to be a not-for-profit corporation, or you would have to have a lease with a not-for-profit corporation in order to be eligible jurisdictionally for Dover to start applying," Lewis said. Lanza agreed with the analysis. The board also identified a disputed building height calculation, one elevation shown at 36.6 feet against a 35-foot maximum, and an unresolved AASHTO sight-distance documentation requirement for the Alden Road driveway exit as the two remaining technical issues. In a separate 5-0 vote, the board approved a revised planning fee schedule dated July 1, 2026, the first formally adopted update since 2004, setting the new MBTA Communities application base fee at $1,500 plus a per-unit charge.