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Home My WebLink Aboutmin of conservation com 02/10/2003 J t ;::" r~: r Conservation Commission Meeting February 10, 2003 "'. ., . I Ii i'" P:'j' 1: I,g , ".~- ".,.,. > ,"--, Present: Paul Boyden, Chair; Christine Flass, Carole Matthew, Diane ~~~y. , . ! . ii'C:t_!~'~I' T ~ Richard Lewis, Conservation and Environmental Planner I " \ ..1 .,. ..., 11. Meeting called to order at 7:30 p.m. 2. Public Hearing Notice of Intent - 50 Cabot Boulevard - Mansfield Forbes LLC - DEP File #SE 211-677 The chair reopened the public hearing for the construction of an office building and parking with grading and associated work within 100 feet of a wetland resource area. Bill Buckley, Bay Colony Engineering, explained the revised plan following the last Conservation Commission and Planning Board meetings. The commission had requested the work be kept entirely out of the 25-foot no disturb zone; the building has been pushed 10 feet to the northeast to get it out of that zone. The parking lot work has also been moved outside the 25-foot no disturb zone; a row of parking was eliminated to accomplish this. The new pedestrian walkway has been connected to the existing gravel path, and does encroach into the 25-foot buffer zone. r The Planning Board had been concerned about the guardrail blocking access to the pedestrian walkway; the guardrail will be broken in several places to allow access. The board also asked for low landscape lighting along the walkway for security reasons; lighting at 25-foot intervals has been added to the plan. There are existing electrical outlets around the pond area. Board Comment Ms. Matthew asked if the trees would be disturbed; Mr. Buckley said they would not. Ms. Flass asked the closest point of work to the wetland itself; Mr. Buckley said it was almost 40 feet at the closest points. He said the parking lot would not shed toward the wetland. A portion of the site drains to the pond, and the other portion goes into a drain in the parking lot, across West Street and behind the Ames warehouse. Ms. Matthew asked how close the walkway would be to the buffer zone; Mr. Buckley said it was 27 feet at its closest point. Mr. Lewis said there would have to be about 240 square feet of work done within the buffer zone for the construction of the walkway, which is allowed under the by-law. Mr. Boyden asked about the material for the walkway; Mr. Boyden said it will be a stone walkway, but was uncertain what type of stone would be used. r .' . r Ms. Matthew said the small amount of work in the buffer work might be a better option than having to cut down several trees, as was shown on the original plan. Mr. Buckley said all the work within the buffer zone would be within previously disturbed areas. Motion: To close the public hearing (Ready-Flass) All in favor. PASSES Motion: To approve the Order of Conditions for SE 211-677, incorporating the changes as discussed above (Ready-Matthew) Ms. Flass suggested incorporating the February 6,2003 plans into the order. Motion: To amend the motion (Flass-Ready) All in favor. PASSES Amended Motion: To approve the Order of Conditions for SE 211-677, incorporating the changes as discussed above and referencing the plans dated February 6,2003 as presented in the above Order of Conditions (Ready-Matthew) All in favor. PASSES .- I 4. New Business Mr. Lewis explained Town Counsel has filed the papers with the court regarding the violations on Mr. Clemmey's South Walnut Street property. Mr. Mangiaratti will be contacting the landowner's attorney to try to work out a solution. Mr. Lewis said the position that attorney seems to have taken in a letter he sent to the Board of Selectmen implies they would be filing a new Notice oflntent. Mr. Lewis said he thought the wetland replication needs to be carried out in the area of the original work, and should be done in conjunction with the wetland replication plan prepared by VHB. He said the fill would have to be removed, hydric soils replaced and vegetation and trees planted. Mr. Lewis explained town counsel and the applicant's attorney would work out an agreeable settlement, which will then be approved by the court. If the work is not done after that, the landowner would be in contempt of court. Mr. Lewis said Mr. Clemmey had asked for time on tonight's agenda; Mr. Mangiaratti has told Mr. Lewis the commission should not speak with Mr. Clemmey about this issue until the settlement is agreed upon. Mr. Lewis said he had a copy of the new wetland replication policy and riverfront guidelines, which are supposed to be mailed to commissions soon. .- Mr. Lewis said he has received a request from Attorney Nathaniel Stevens, representing the Carrigans on the School Street lots, requesting documentation and minutes. Mr. Lewis said he had provided Mrs. Carrigan with many of these documents already; he added tomorrow (February 11,2003) is the deadline to file an appeal under the local by-law. Mr. Boyden asked ifthat land would be considered subject to flooding; Mr. Lewis said it is not shown on the national flood maps, although it does flood. He said it would be possible for an engineer to do modeling to show what would occur under certain storm conditions. Mr. Lewis said the water from the Erin's Centre project heads r toward these School Street lots, and said there will also be development of the land on the southeast corner of Route 106, (across the street from the 40B project); this site is within the same watershed as the School Street lots. Mr. Lewis said the next regular meeting would be February 24,2003, but there are no new applications. He said he expected an application for the Branch Street 40B project to be submitted soon, and revisions to the Route 140/1 06 project should also be filed soon. Ms. Flass asked about 40B in relation to the commission; Mr. Lewis said applicants can seek exemptions from any local by-laws. The state wetland protection act must be satisfied, but can request relief from the ZBA from all local regulations. If the ZBA does not grant certain waivers, the applicant could claim that would make the project uneconomical. The case would then go the Housing Appeal Committee, which could overturn the ZBA's decision, especially in towns that haven't met the 10 percent affordable housing threshold, which Mansfield has not. Ms. Flass asked about the Gilbert Street vernal pools; Mr. Lewis said Michelle Grenier plans to come back in the spring. Ms. Flass offered to walk the site with her. Ms. Matthew said Folkman &Zola were supposed to have submitted a letter indicating the replication had been done in Eastfield Village; Mr. Lewis said he has not received that letter but will check with Mr. Zola. r- Ms. Flass asked about Mr. Clemmey's Essex Street property; Mr. Lewis said he has spoken with Ed Burke from DEP, who has been communicating with the AG's office. That office is looking for some aerial photography to see what the site looked like before the work was done. Mr. Lewis said he hoped to meet with DEP to be sure this is moving along. Ms. Matthew asked about the Maughn property on Bird Road, on which work had been done illegally. The homeowner came to the commission and was supposed to have informed Mr. Lewis when the replication work had been done. Mr. Lewis will check in with the homeowner. Mr. Boyden asked about having a "status board" installed in the Conservation Agent's office, which could be kept updated. Mr. Lewis said that could be done with a database. r- Mr. Boyden asked about applicants for the vacant position. Mr. Lewis said he hadn't heard from anyone. I 5. Adjournment Motion: To adjourn at 8:45 p.m. (Ready-Flass) All in favor. PASSES Date of Next Meeting: March 3, 2003 at 7:30 p.m. _1 .L WV) YI.~D I u> Signa e of Chair Date of J\.pproval ~ 11-.. \ ~\) '\ ~ """" , ~