Design Review Board approves four projects, continues Laurel Avenue review

WELLESLEY -- May 13, 2026, Wellesley Design Review Board approves four projects, continues Laurel Avenue plan on 5-0 votes. Chair Juann Khoory, Vice Chair Iris Lin, Secretary Mark Wendell, member Sheila Dinsmoor and alternate Alex Zhou cleared a Footstock sign at 33 Central Street, the 10 Railroad Street townhouse project, with a condition for pedestrian striping to the train station, and the Dana Hall School tennis reconstruction at 45 Dana Road, where CFO Charlie Breslin said the existing courts are "beyond their useful life." The board also granted a Lower Falls floor-area-ratio special permit for a proposed bank at 26 Washington Street at an FAR of 0.44, above the 0.3 trigger but well under the district's 1.0 cap, presented by Kimley-Horn's Seth Anderson and architect Alex Adler. The 16 Laurel Avenue project was continued after Khoory flagged "compositional confusion" in a roofline band and asymmetry in balcony placement.