Dear Editor:
I am writing to clarify what was apparently taken out of context by the author of the May 2, 2025 waylandpost news article about the new Terrain Project on Boston Post Road. To my recollection, there was a mention of the proposed project during a Planning Board meeting under the topic “Updates from the Town Planner” when the Planning Board was advised that an application for an event venue project had been filed with the Zoning Board for review. However, your article makes it sound as though the Planning Board discussed the project and determined that, even if that project were to be approved by the Zoning Board over the next few months, it would still require a new review after master plan adoption for the Route 20 corridor. That is not, in fact, the case.
Your article ends with a sentence that states “The Planning Board members said any facade or parking-lot changes proposed after the master plan is adopted would require site-plan review, even if the restaurant is already operating.” I believe that was part of a different, larger discussion and was not necessarily related to the Terrain Project.
A master plan itself cannot mandate what a property owner can and can’t do on its own property. However, changes to zoning could affect what can and cannot be done on a property in the future. So, if Terrain receives a ZBA approval now, it will not then need to come to the Planning Board. If at a point in time in the future that project wishes to change the ZBA-approved plans, then it would require a new review. Depending on the nature of the proposed changes, the revised project could be subject to the requirements of any more recently approved zoning changes.
Anette Lewis
