Weymouth ZBA Opens Hearing on Funeral Home Expansion Into Residential Zone

WEYMOUTH -- April 27, 2022, Weymouth's Board of Zoning Appeals opened a contentious public hearing on McDonald-Cohane Funeral Home's bid to expand its 809 Main Street facility into two residentially zoned Cypress Street parcels. Attorney Jeff Tachio presented plans for a roughly 5,500-square-foot addition including a 2,800-square-foot chapel, five-bay garage, and 113 on-site parking spaces, arguing the $-multimillion investment addresses structural deficiencies in an 1870 building and does not aim to grow the funeral volume. Abutters' attorney Johanna Schneider of Hemingway and Barnes countered that the project cannot satisfy all five required special permit criteria and that the Town Council in 2021 unanimously amended the zoning ordinance to bar future funeral home use in R1 districts precisely because of this proposal. Four town councilors, including District 5 Councilor Gary McDougall, spoke in opposition during public comment, disputing the applicant's claim that the council acted on misinformation about weddings and parties. The hearing was continued to May 18, 2022, with a supplemental traffic study, an occupant-load calculation for the new chapel, and a proposed operational condition on simultaneous services still outstanding.