Board approves Wellesley Place rent hikes, bylaw text

Select Board · Meeting of October 20, 2026

WELLESLEY — The Wellesley Select Board approved new affordable rents at Wellesley Place and heard Fire Chief Steve Martorelli defend the North 40 site for a new fire headquarters. New Wellesley Place tenants will pay $2,705 for a one-bedroom and $3,032 for a two-bedroom unit; existing tenants face a 5 percent increase to $2,163 and $2,284. Martorelli said the department fields roughly 4,600 to 4,700 calls a year and that firefighters face "a 14 to 15 percent chance of dying of cancer" compared to non-firefighters, citing contamination risks the new station design would address.

Member Beth Sullivan Woods pushed back on traffic assumptions, saying Weston Road offers "no place for them to go" for southbound drivers. The board also approved revised bylaw language for special Town Meeting and deferred votes on three appropriation articles to next week.

In the full story:

• Executive Director's Update and Consent Agenda
• Wellesley Place Affordable Housing Rent Adjustment
• Fire Department Master Plan: Responding to Resident Concerns on the North 40 Site
• — Fire Chief Steve Martorelli
• — Marjorie Freiman, Select Board Chair
• Special Town Meeting Preparation: Bylaw Language and the "Shall" Versus "Must" Debate
• Special Town Meeting Articles 14, 15 and 16: Appropriation Requests
• Administrative Matters: The Town-Wide "W" Letter and Minutes
• Chair's Report and Executive Session
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report: 2,911 words

Source: the Select Board meeting of October 20, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript. It was corrected where it differed.