Wayland Planning Board continues Mendler Woods hearing, authorizes Community Center peer review

WAYLAND -- January 24, 2023, Wayland Planning Board opens Mendler Woods cluster hearing and files MBTA compliance plan. The board voted 5-0 Tuesday to continue a public hearing on a five-lot, 8.69-acre conservation cluster at 60 Shaw Drive, proposing 4.13 acres under conservation restriction, a shared 30-bedroom septic system and net-zero homes, to Feb. 7, with DGT's Bert Cory promising his peer review by then. Owner Cat Vanderstraten said she and co-owner Pablo Suarez want "a beautiful energy efficient pocket neighborhood," not a profit-driven build. Members also unanimously authorized a joint peer review for the Council on Aging and Community Center project and voted to submit the town's interim MBTA Communities action plan by the Jan. 31 deadline. Public comment was consumed by a 60-unit St. Anne's affordable housing proposal: Rachel Bratt reported the Housing Partnership voted 8-0 to back it, while Windy Hill Lane neighbor Quentin Nowland called the building "one and a half times the average Whole Foods" and said abutters received notice only Jan. 10.