Letter: Rezoning Regis land should be carefully considered

In the coming weeks, Weston residents may be asked to vote on a Town Meeting article related to 300 Wellesley Street, the Regis College property. Regis is asking the Town to fast-track a zoning change for roughly 60 acres of forested land at 300 Wellesley St. The change would enable a large, for-profit housing complex on land where the rules currently allow single-family homes. As proposed, it would be 215 units, four stories, and roughly 300,000 square feet of indoor space (for scale, comparable in size to three Home Depots).

This is a significant change to single-family zoning with town-wide consequences. Once the Town changes what is permitted in a single-family district, it will be difficult to walk back. Future developers will cite this exception and try to replicate it. This is not a door Weston should open lightly.

Regis has every right to sell its land. But Weston is not obligated to change its long-standing residential zoning to improve the economics of a private transaction—especially when many of the direct impacts would be borne by neighbors and the Town, including traffic and safety on a congested Wellesley Street, loss of trees, and increased lighting and noise.

The existing zoning already provides a clear path for Regis to sell its land. If anything is built there, it should be homes that fit the neighborhood under the zoning we already have.

Zoning changes require a vote at Town Meeting. If this appears on the warrant, we should review it carefully and vote. We should share our views with the Planning Board, Select Board, and other committees to weigh the long-term impact on Weston’s neighborhoods and character. This may start with one parcel, but it won’t end there.

Palak Shah, Colonial Way