Changes Approved for Wayside

Changes are coming to Wayside Commons.

The first change, already in effect, is that the plaza will no longer be called "Wayside Commons" but instead will be shortened to "Wayside."

Thomas Wilder of The Wilder Companies out of Boston, the company that handles management and leasing at Wayside, said the name change is part of an overall program of improvements in the plaza. 

"There is nothing common about Wayside," he said about the name change.

Some more substantial changes were approved by the Planning Board last week. After a few weeks of back and forth over a re-arrangement of the parking lot, the board voted to approve a plan for changes that include three new restaurants. The parking will be changed because zoning bylaws require restaurants to have more parking spots than retail locations, so in order to bring in the new businesses Wilder Companies had to increase the number of spots. The originally presented last month included many front-in spaces, which made members of the board uncomfortable. The new plan includes far fewer of that type of spot.

Wilder said that the Wayside management is looking to bring three new restaurants to the plaza, Bonefish Grille, Potbelly Sandwich Shop and Season's 52. The new restaurants would not require the building of any additional buildings in the commons. Wilder said Bonefish Grille would be in the current location, Potbelly will go in the current Fresh City location and Season's 52 will be placed in the second-floor location where .

After the meeting, Wilder said the change to the parking lot, which will require re-painting the spots as they are re-aligned by ninety degrees, will be done quickly and will not cause much disruption for customers. He also said the goal is to have the new restaurants in place and open within 12 to 18 months.