Wingate site plan revision: dog run, bocce court and two EV chargers approved for hearing closure; board to draft decision

The Needham Planning Board on June 3 considered a minor site‑plan modification for the Wingate senior campus and closed the hearing after the applicant described several small changes to the previously permitted site.

David Feldman and Tom Miner presented the proposal to the board. The plan would add two electric vehicle charging stations (to serve four parking spaces), a bocce court, a small dog run, an extension of an internal sidewalk to provide a firm path from the resident entrance to Gould Street, and the reinstatement of three parking spaces that had been removed earlier in design.

Tom Miner said the project remains in compliance with the town's parking requirement: "We're still in compliant more than in compliance with the the parking requirement under the zoning by law." The only department to register concerns was the Board of Health, which asked how dog waste and maintenance would be handled; the applicant said there will be a dog‑waste station supplying bags, a waste receptacle, a possible water station and daily policing of the area by maintenance staff. The dog run is sited in an already shaded landscape area and the developer said they do not expect heavy dog use — "I think right now on on the entire campus, there's 1 dog. At most, there was 3."

Planning Board members asked for public comment; none was raised during the hearing. The board voted to waive the notice of hearing and later voted to close the hearing. Artie Crocker, the chair, said staff will prepare a draft decision for the board to vote at the next meeting.