Planning Board approves scoreboard, Walmart Spark plan

Planning Board · Meeting of August 18, 2026

Westwood Planning Board approves scoreboard and Walmart Spark plans, debates Costco-border oversight. Chair Ellen Larkin Rollings and members Philip Giordano, Timothy Haladyna and Michael Derderian voted unanimously to grant a limited environmental impact and design review for a new 928-square-foot digital scoreboard at Xaverian Brothers School, nearly five times the size of the 25-year-old original, and separately approved a special permit and design review for a Walmart Spark store at 21-25 Southwest Park. Director of Community and Economic Development Nora Lachnane raised concern that new state budget legislation loosens zoning-variance standards, threatening Westwood's commercial tax base, and Rollings pushed to expand the town's Access Approval Overlay District to gain leverage over border-adjacent projects like a proposed Costco near Norwood.

A modification request for 378 Washington Street was continued after the applicant's son described his hospitalized father as the target of a staff email calling his objection "a work of fiction and bluster." The board also reopened and reconfirmed its prior Walmart Spark vote, 3-0-1, after discovering member Derderian had missed an affidavit requirement from an earlier hearing session.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 3,619 words

Source: the Planning Board meeting of August 18, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.