Waltham Council Approves Fast-Food Permit, Recesses Hotel Hearing to April

WALTHAM -- February 9, 2026, Waltham City Council approved a fast-food special permit and cleared more than a dozen other items at its February 9 meeting, while recessing a long-running hotel proposal on Moody Street to April. The council voted 14-0 to grant TT Group Wallex Inc. a special permit for a fast-food establishment at 864 Moody Street after attorney Michael Connors of Connors and Connors presented two newly added permit conditions, a no-left-turn restriction and a non-exclusive short-term parking provision, that the Ordinance and Rules Committee had approved the prior week. A separate public hearing for a five-story, 42-room hotel, event space, and restaurant at 220 Moody Street, the do-over of a January 12 hearing that was voided for lack of a legal advertisement, was recessed to April 13 after Councilor Kathy Ann Harris secured four council-approved data requests from the petitioner, including a written parking plan for a venue projecting events of up to 350 people with only 27 publicly available on-site spaces. The council also voted 14-0 to transfer the Lawrence School property at 258 Lexington Street to the Recreation Department, confirmed John J. O'Connor III as Director of Veteran Services 13-0 with Vice President Randall J. LeBlanc recused, accepted a $1.5 million state Housing Works Infrastructure grant, and approved a $152,129.27 appropriation for a new ice resurfacing machine at Veterans Memorial Skating Rink.