Scenic Roads

Purpose

The Wayland Scenic Roads Bylaw can be found in the Wayland Town Code, Chapter 158, Article 5 (§158-5 thru § 158-12).

The purpose of the bylaw is to maintain the rural, natural, historic and scenic character of the town's roads.  Scenic Road Bylaws are permitted under Massachusetts General Law Chapter 40, section 15C.  In 1974, the Town designated 18 different roads, 21 miles total, as scenic (see map).  The bylaw requires the Planning Board to hold a public hearing and review all work proposed within and along any designated scenic road that may involve the cutting or removal of trees or the tearing down or destruction of stone walls. Examples include  alteration or removal of trees or stone walls, road widening, the addition of a sidewalk, or the construction of a new curb cut or driveway.

Designation

Scenic roads are designated by a majority vote of  Town Meeting after being recommended or requested by the Planning Board, Conservation Commission, or Historical Commission.  No numbered route or state highway can be designated as a scenic road unless the road is entirely within Wayland and no part of it is owned or maintained by the state.

Application

Currently there is no application form for the cutting or removal of trees or tearing down or destruction of stone walls on scenic roads.  A letter to the Tree Warden/Board of Public Works with a description of the Type of Work Proposed in the Scenic Roadway(may be accompanied by photos, sketch, or plan) with a copy to the Planning Board requesting and detailing such actions,  are all that is necessary.  The cost of the advertisements for the public hearing must be borne by the applicant.

Hearing

On any road, which has been designated a "Scenic Road,"  no repair, maintenance, reconstruction, or paving on the road that involves any cutting or removal of trees, or tearing down or destruction of stone walls, can occur without the prior written consent of the Planning Board.  This written consent cannot occur until after the Planning Board has held a public hearing.

Since all trees subject to the Scenic Roads Bylaw are also subject to the "Public Shade Trees" law (MGL Ch. 87), the hearings with regard to cutting or removal of  trees must be conducted as joint public hearings held in accordance with the requirements of the Public Shade Trees law.

Thus, the hearing must be called by the Wayland Tree Warden/Board of Public Works, the notice of the time and place of the hearing must appear in two or more public places in Wayland and in a general circulation newspaper in the town once in each of two successive weeks, the first appearance to be not less than seven days before the day of the hearing, and the notice must identify the size, type, and location (in a manner commonly understood by the a non-technical person) of each tree.

Decision

After the public hearing, the Planning Board will vote either to deny or allow the actions requested, based on its judgment of the relative scenic value and impacts of the actions.  The result of this vote will be transmitted in writing to the applicant.