Planning Board votes 3-2 to waive affordable unit at Mount Vernon project

Planning Board · Meeting of September 8, 2026

Winchester Planning Board votes 3-2 to waive affordable-unit rule at Mount Vernon Street addition, breaking with town counsel. Members first rejected, 2-3, a motion requiring an inclusionary unit at the proposed four-unit third floor addition to 10-16 Mount Vernon Street, then approved, 3-2, a finding that the addition is a standalone four-unit project exempt from the rule. Member John Cortizas said, "I don't see this as requiring inclusionary housing.

I see it as a four-unit project, not nine." Housing Partnership Board chair John Serbier told the board "no one has indicated that has identified the kind of problem that town counsel has identified" in the zoning regulations. Separately, consultant Wendy Frontero's peer review of a proposed 910 Main Street building found it largely compliant but flagged a sparse Canal Street facade and a disconnected cantilevered tower. The board also advanced three zoning bylaw amendments to the fall Town Meeting warrant.

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Source: the Planning Board meeting of September 8, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.