Natick ZBA Approves Six Demolition-Rebuild Projects, Rejects Sheffield Road House

NATICK -- June 22, 2026, Natick's Zoning Board of Appeals approved six demolition-and-rebuild or addition applications at its June 22 meeting while rejecting one and continuing another. The board voted 5-0 to approve projects at 22 Laconia Road, 52 Bacon Street, and 3 Walcott Street, and 4-1 to approve 59 Westlake Road with conditions on tree preservation and a vinyl fence installation. A Section 6 Finding for 13 Sheffield Road, where a proposed rebuild would nearly double building height to 35 feet on a 10,000-square-foot lot, failed 2-3, with member Gail saying she "cannot see voting for such a building that looks like this." The long-running 150 Woodland Street case, in front of the board since March, drew a 3-1 favorable vote that nonetheless fell short of the four affirmative votes needed to pass. Chair David Jackowitz told the Silva Development LLC applicant that the board would no longer accept incremental revisions: "We're not going to keep coming back and just chipping away." The 27/29 Forest Avenue two-house project was continued to July 27, 2026 after neighbors testified that the proposed height increase on the front house, from 21 feet to 31.5 feet, would eliminate roughly 90 minutes of winter sunlight from south-facing windows at the adjacent property at 25 Forest Avenue.