Wayland ZBA approves cafe at former Collins Market, continues contested Plain Road rebuild

WAYLAND -- November 18, 2025, Wayland ZBA clears Collins Market cafe conversion, defers 5,000-square-foot Plain Road teardown amid neighbor opposition. The board unanimously granted Millbrook Group LLC two special permits to convert the pre-existing non-conforming building at 21 Cochituate Road into a cafe, bistro and event space with no on-site parking; member Aida A. Gennis recused. Chair Thomas William White said the panel could not condition approval on the town solving "a town-wide parking problem that is really the responsibility of nobody." Seven neighbors opposed IPA Development Company's plan to demolish a 2,000-square-foot home at 43 Plain Road and replace it with roughly 5,000 square feet and a three-car garage; Bill Dowick of 44 Millbrook Road cited a 163 percent jump in lot coverage, and Michael Hedderi of 48 Plain Road said the design "looks like an office building that should be on Route 9." The case was continued to December 9. The board also approved signage for Urban Outfitters' terrain complex at 297 and 311 Boston Post Road and four other residential additions.