Weymouth Council Closes Hearing on Washington Street Overlay Zoning Petition

WEYMOUTH -- November 13, 2023, Weymouth Town Council closes public hearing on a contested zoning overlay petition for 238 Washington St. while advancing four mayoral measures to committee. Planning Director Robert Luongo formally recommended against Measure 23-125, which would extend the Village Center overlay district to a deteriorated commercial corner at Washington and Vine streets owned by Jason Kennedy and Christopher Bruce, arguing that the property was deliberately removed from the commercial corridor overlay in 2021 and that water supply limits and higher-priority affordable housing projects, including a roughly 200-unit development on the town-acquired Dwyer's Mountain parcel, should take precedence. Attorney Gregory Galvin, presenting for the owners, said the overlay would allow a four-story mixed-use building, with up to 19 units buildable as of right under site plan review and more by special permit. The Planning Board was set to hold its own hearing the following evening, with 21 days to deliver a recommendation; the Ordinance Committee is scheduled to take up the measure November 27. The council also referred a proposed FY2024 commercial tax rate shift of 1.47 and a five-year Verizon Wireless antenna lease for Town Hall to the Budget Management Committee, and approved 9-0 five-year school contracts for teacher evaluation software and before- and after-school programming, with the school department targeting a March 2024 contract award to avoid a repeat of the delayed program launch that stranded families during the last transition.