PLYMPTON– On Tuesday, August 2, the Conservation Committee met and took on several issues. Conservation Commission is responsible for administering the Wetlands Protection Act. Any use or activity proposed within 100 feet of a wetland resource area or within 200 feet of a river must first be authorized by the Commission.
• A family on Ring Road, who are within 200 feet of a river are experiencing erosion issues on their property. The commission has been working with them to find solutions to the problems. The couple partially blames rain run-off from the street for their concern, but admit that cutting back on their irrigation from four times a day to one has helped, significantly, and they were lauded for their efforts. One issue still remaining is a patch of cedar chips in their back yard that needs to be stabilized, likely by planting something “rooted”. Although the commission will not order them to plant anything, they do need to come up with a solution that brings the land into compliance, whatever that solution may be.
• An updated Notice of Intent (NOI) to do work– in this case new construction¬ on Main Street– was filed with the commission. The updated site-plan included marked wetlands areas. The commission, especially Linda Leddy and Amy Cronin, were concerned about the new plan as the positioning of the structure may not meet zoning requirements, and will hold the resident’s checks until he speaks with the Zoning Enforcement Officer before they take any money from him for re-filing his plan in case he has to do it over again.
• A hearing that was continued for a Main Street resident was briefly re-opened and continued again. The resident had done tree-work in the 100-foot zone, and possibly within the 25-foot zone, of wetlands without filing a site-plan and a NOI. He had been notified in April, 2015, that he needed to file the NOI, the commission stated from a review of their minutes. The resident wanted to simply plant trees to mitigate what he had removed. “Oh, there will be trees there…” said commission chairman Richard Burnet, but the commission didn’t feel they could even begin to work with the resident until they were able to determine the zones. He will have to hire a botanist to “flag” the 25-foot and 100-foot areas to re-delineate them, which hasn’t occurred since the 1970’s, said the resident, and then the board can work with him to bring him into compliance.
• A NOI to build a driveway was filed for M7-B1-L40C, a lot on Main Street. The NOI will be considered on August 16, at 7:30 p.m.
• The commission will meet next on Aug. 16, at 7 p.m.