Planning Board delays decision on Coptic plan

The Planning Board voted unanimously to extend the deadline for filing a decision on the St. Philopater Mercurius and St. Mina Coptic Orthodox Church site plan application at 169 Rice Road to Feb. 13. It separately voted unanimously to close the public hearing record after concluding that it would proceed toward a decision covering the entire project rather than only an initial phase.
Chair Anette Lewis said 76 attendees were present on Zoom at the start of the hearing, later noting attendance had increased to 97.
The votes followed a lengthy discussion on whether the board would limit its action to approving the church building alone or direct staff to draft a decision addressing all components of the proposed development. Applicant’s attorney Jonathan Silverstein said the church would not move forward without approval of the full project and stated that partial approval would be of no practical value. He said the applicant was no longer proposing phased construction and intended to build the project in a single phase, with a stated commitment to complete construction within five years.
Affordable housing offer Silverstein also said the applicant was voluntarily proposing to permanently restrict 20% of the project’s residential units to households earning no more than 80% of area median income. Based on a total of 24 units discussed during the meeting, that proposal would apply to five units.
Town Planner Robert Hummel said the town would consult the Regional Housing Services Office to assess whether the proposed units could qualify for the state’s subsidized housing inventory (SHI). He said that even if the units did not qualify, the town would still benefit from the presence of lower-cost housing options.
Board members questioned how the restriction would be administered and whether the units would qualify for inclusion on the SHI. Silverstein initially said the applicant would cooperate with the town in seeking SHI eligibility but would not allow Wayland Housing Authority to manage the units because they wanted the units restricted to only church members. He emphasized that the offer was voluntary and not legally required under the Dover Amendment.
Robin Borgestedt proposed that the affordable units be truly “capital A” affordable i.e., counted on the SHI, and be administered through Wayland Housing Authority
(WHA) and to make SHI eligibility a condition of approval. Larry Kiernan felt it was unfair to hinge approval on a voluntary offer that may not legally qualify for SHI because residency is restricted to a specific faith.
Silverstein eventually offered that “if it gets us over the finish line, we will agree to have those [five] units administered through the housing authority, and we would accept that as a condition.”
During the discussion, Silverstein said that if the project were denied or approved only in part, the applicant would pursue relief in land court and in federal court under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.
The board agreed to direct Hummel and town counsel to incorporate an affordable housing condition into the draft decision for the entire project and to continue working out the precise wording of the SHI/WHA terms before the decision deadline.
Straw poll is 3–2 in favor
The board conducted a straw poll on whether to direct staff to prepare an approval decision for the entire project, resulting in three members expressing support and two opposing. Despite the divided straw poll, the board agreed that additional time was needed to draft and review conditions for a comprehensive decision.
Following the extension vote, the board voted 5-0 to close the public hearing record, allowing deliberations and drafting to continue outside the hearing process. Board members said conditions would address issues including construction timing, the height of fences on retaining walls, parking buffering requirements, landscaping standards, a requested waiver to reduce required bicycle parking from 19 spaces to 10, and other site details.
With the hearing closed, Lewis and Hummel emphasized that members needed to provide prompt feedback so staff could revise conditions to apply to the entire project in the draft decision.
The board plans to review a revised draft decision before the Feb. 13 filing deadline.