Board continues zoning rewrite and 972 Main St. hearings

Planning Board · Meeting of June 16, 2026

Winchester Planning Board continued two major hearings and corrected a prior recommendation at its June 16 meeting. Consultant Nels Nelson and attorney Jonathan Silverstein of Community Scale presented a redlined zoning bylaw using a 0.5 floor area ratio, instead of gross floor area, to trigger special-permit review for new single-family homes in several residential districts; the board continued that hearing to July 7 on a 4-0 roll call vote. Members also continued, 4-0 with one recusal, a hearing on Treetop Group's 14-unit 972 Main Street project after architect Tim Johnson presented three redesigned parking layouts eliminating tandem spaces for a 10-foot rear buffer.

Building Commissioner Tom Kennedy said proposed garage drive aisles fell short of the required 24 feet. Member Keri Layton said tandem parking "stressed me out to kind of no end." The board also voted 5-0 to endorse a boundary-line land conveyance with Woburn.

In the full story:

• Residential Zoning Bylaw Rewrite: Floor Area Ratio and Retaining Walls
• 972 Main Street: Redesigned Parking to Eliminate Tandem Spaces
• Sunset Road: Boundary Land Conveyance with Woburn
• ZBA Petition Z269, 189 High Street: Correction to Prior Recommendation
• Administrative Matters: Scheduling, Capital Planning and the Master Plan
• Minutes and Other Business
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report: 3,116 words

Source: the Planning Board meeting of June 16, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript. It was corrected where it differed.