Wayland Select Board declines to block cell tower at Rod and Gun Club

WAYLAND -- August 12, 2019, Wayland Select Board declines to buy land to block Verizon cell tower. The board voted 5-0 Monday not to exercise its Chapter 61B right of first refusal on roughly half an acre at the Wayland Rod and Gun Club, 4 Meadowview Road, where Verizon Wireless holds a Zoning Board of Appeals permit for a tower. Town Counsel Carolyn Murray warned that federal telecommunications law would expose the town to suits from both Verizon and the Rod and Gun Club if it bought the landlocked parcel to stop the project, calling the litigation risk substantial. Neighbors including Andrew Munton and Kamal Namu pressed the board to acquire the land anyway for the tax revenue and oversight; one called the vote "a really bitter pill." In separate appointments, the board declined to reappoint six-year Conservation Commission member Sherry Greenbaum despite 21 letters of support, instead seating landscape architect Kathy Schreiber 5-0 and reappointing engineering geologist Tom Davidson 5-0. The board also rescinded plans for a fall special town meeting.