Wayland ZBA re-elects chair, adds clerk role under rules waiver

WAYLAND -- July 11, 2023, Wayland ZBA re-elects reluctant chair and revives clerk's role to share the load. Chair Joshua Wernig was unanimously re-elected for a third one-year term under an "extraordinary circumstances" waiver in the board's rules, after no other regular member would take the gavel; Jeff Levine was elected clerk, also unanimously, to handle email, follow-ups and coordination with the building commissioner between meetings. "I am the reluctant chair," Wernig said, telling colleagues he has drafted "the preponderance of all the decisions in the last two years." Veteran member James Grumbach, on the board since 1999, made the chair nomination. Member Aida A. Gennis pressed the new building commissioner to list applicable bylaw sections in each legal notice, saying generalizations leave a volunteer board guessing. The board separately granted Christopher and Catherine Pearson a special permit to expand their 8 Lodge Road home from 2,292 to 2,608 square feet.