Needham Select Board Rejects ZBA Nominee 3-2 in Contentious Closed-Record Vote

NEEDHAM -- May 26, 2026, Needham Select Board rejects ZBA nominee 3-2 and unanimously opts out of recreational cannabis delivery. Member Kathy Dowd moved to block the appointment of Zach Wallach, a partner at Eckert Seamans, third-generation Needham resident, and ZBA nominee, as an associate member of the Zoning Board of Appeals, arguing that civil discourse is a threshold qualification for any town volunteer position, but declining to state a specific objection to Wallach on the record. Members Kevin Doyle and Phil Costello opposed, with Doyle saying "I think he's qualified, I'm just not aware of anything that would keep me from voting for him." The board also voted unanimously to request a two-year waiver from the Cannabis Control Commission to opt out of recreational cannabis delivery made available statewide by default under Chapter 65 of the Acts of 2026, and authorized design of a roughly $13 million four-lane Great Plain Avenue reconstruction concept developed by the town's Envision committee, with design expected to take 18 months pending a town meeting funding vote.