Conservation Commission Meeting November 28, 2023

according to my clock it's now 7 o'clock so I'm going to call to order the Dartmouth conservation commission's uh meeting for November 28 2023 I want to let everyone know that we're conducting this meeting remotely uh as a result of the governor on March 29 2023 signing a further extension for hybrid remote meeting options to municipalities uh the governor extended that option until March 31

2025 we do allow the public to be participant in the hearings and at the bottom of the screen there should be a raise your hand feature and if not wave your hand in the screen and we will recognize you and when we're recognizing you uh you can unmute yourself that being said um we're going to move to our administrative matters and the first is the approval of the minutes of October 31 2023 may have a

motion to that effect second we have a seconded motion roll call vote Joe yes Richard yes Kyle yes mat yes and I'm a yes that motion passes unanimously the next item is the approval of the field trip reports of November 14th excuse me 2023 a motion to that effect second was seconded motion roll call vote Joe yes Richard yes Kyle yes andet yes and I'm a yes as well that motion

unanimously moving on to the third item it's to receive the minutes of the November 14 14 2023 meeting have a motion to that effect so move second second a second on the motion roll call vote Joe yes Richard yes Kyle yes Matt yes and I'm a yes that motion passes unanimously we're moving now to our F Tri reports excuse me the first is a request for determination of applicability rd-

23-31 from Sarah and krill seov for the repair of a subsurface sewage disposal at map 89 Lot 21 that's located at 29 Little River Road um Mark what is staff's recommendation on this request a uh existing septic system that needs repair we're recommending a negative3 with the standard erosion control device conditions okay any Commission ERS have any questions seeing none I'll entertain a motion on this

request motion for a negative3 with standard erosion control um conditions we have a motion on floor do have a second second second okay roll call vote Joe yes Richard yes Kyle yes yes and I'm a yes as well that motion passes unanimously the second field trip report is a request for a certificate of compliance the EP file 15- 2583 rc- 23-53 is for the approved vegetate vegetation management at map 35 Lot 24

it's located at 153 Gulf Road Markus what's staff's recommendation on this request staff recommends the issuance of a complete certificate of compliance have a any commissioner have any question seeing none is there a motion on this request make a motion make a motion for complete certificate of compliance we second on that second it a seconded motion l call vote Joe yes Richard yes Kyle yes Nat yes and I'm a

yes that motion passes unanimously the third is a request for certificate of compliance D file 15- 2556 RCC 2352 um for the approved Renovations and the addition of a pool Terrace deck landscaping and utilities to the property at map 35 Lot 24 153 Gulf Road marks what staff's recommendations on this request recommending a complete certificate of compliance any questions of any commissioner

seeing none obtain a motion for the issuance of a complete certificate of compliance so moov move second move second on the motion roll call vote Joe yes Richard yes Kyle yes Matt yes and I'm a yes that motion passes unanimously the fourth field trip report a request for certificate of compliance the file 15- 2472 RCC 2350 for the approved order of conditions from 529 2019 for a single family house and

Associated grading and utilities as well as the record plan entitled subsurface sewage Disposal system dated 312 2019 in the buffer zone to a wetland on land located at map 8 lot 1-1 or two Lin Lane Mark what's staff's recommendation on this request again staff recommends a complete certificate of compliance any questions of any commissioner seeing none a motion for the issuance of the complete certificate

of compliance move we have second on the floor we have a seconded motion roll call vote Joe yes Richard yes Kyle yes Matt yes and yes that motion passes unanimously the uh fifth field trip report is a request for a certificate of compliance uh D file 15-23 33 RCC 23-54 for the brush cutting for a single family home development within land subject to Coastal storm Flowage and the 100 foot buffer zone to a bordering

vegetated Wetland on land located at map 112 lot 30 it's otherwise known as 16 born Place Mark what's staff's recommendation this request this is the oldest of these uh existing expired orders for 16 uh for in place and uh we are recommending a complete certificate of compliance here okay we have a second we have a second it's so we're now going to do a roll call vote Joe yes Richard yes Kyle yes

that yes and I'm yes that motion passes unanimously the field trip report is a request for a certificate of compliance D file 15- 2333 um it's RCC 23- 545 for the single family home development within land subject to Coastal storm Flowage and the 100 foot buffer zone to a bordering vegetated Wetland it's on land located at map 112 lot 30 it's otherwise known as 16 gour Place Mark what is staff's

recommendation on this this request hey this one's not so simple I need a few minutes uh this is the uh this is also an expired order of conditions for the single family development at 16 born place the previous was for the brush cutting to create the W window to build this is actually the building proposal um and we had an issue with uh an abing neighbor concerned about drainage and

wanted to make sure that the existing um grading on site was consistent with the plan of record so we had the consultant in this case uh Northeast Consulting Engineers uh go out and do an ASU plan which I have sent to you what is interesting is that the house location and the grading for the most part is consistent with the plan of record issued uh the plan record associated with the order of conditions

however there are two additional elements a retaining wall to the North and the to the Northwest North and Northeast of the house and a change agreed directly behind the house which has nothing to do with the abutters drainage question and but also an existing driveway in the south east corner of the property that were not on the plan of record and this makes this uh this request a little

bit complicated because we also have pending uh continued public hearing for case number 2705 to do some additional work on the site my concern right along has been that there are too many open files expiring and we're not sure what's been done correctly and what hasn't been done correctly there ago we went to get an ASU plan and this as plant has indicated some inconsistencies having said all of that sta is

recommending a partial certificate of compliance for the house and the driveway the the original driveway layout but also is recommending that partial certificate with conditions and I would like to re I sent this to everybody but I'd like to read it for the record this is an attachment to the partial certificate of compliance should the commission vote this way which reads the issuance of

this partial certificate of compliance requires that further actions must be taken by the applicant to allow for the future issuance of a complete certificate of compliance under this file number conditions all one the applicant shall immediately withdraw the current filing file number 15- 2705 without prejudice to allow for an after the fact filing two as file number 2455 has expired June 3D

2023 as extended by the emergency Co tolling period no work proposed under that filing may continue as there are no current that as there is no current or valid permit three and after the fact notice of intent shall be filed no later than December 28th 20323 noon for all work conducted on the above reference site that was included on the current as bu plan but not included on the plan of record

referenced in the order of conditions under file number 2455 this work includes at a minimum the retaining wall to the rear of the house the driveway is installed along the southern boundry of the parcel and site stabilizing work Hydra seating that occurred after the permit had expired condition four also the new work as proposed under file number 1527 05 can be reapplied for under this

after the fact notice of intent filing as the file number shall be withdrawn in accordance with condition one of this attachment so basically what we're trying to do is since we cannot fully close 2455 and they can't do anything work they have to file and after the fact so if they withdraw 2705 which is the file we have yet to hear and combine the two under a new separate filing I think we

can address all the outstanding issues makes sense to me do any Commissioners have any questions see none I'll entertain a motion for the issuance of a partial certificate of compliance regarding the home the house and the original driveway um subject to the conditions which have been detailed by Mr Garrett no moved we have a seconded motion roll call vote Joe yes Richard yes Kyle

yes yes and I'm a yes that motion passes unanimously we're now moving from the field trip reports to our public hearings and uh consistent with what I've said before we the first three are all involving um Potter Street and the issues that are going to be involved that we can discuss with the first will be applicable to the second and third so um rather than repeat it all for second

and third and make the meeting even longer we'll just incorporate the discussion of one into two and three they will be separate votes and I will read all three of them into the record the first public hearing is a continued public hearing D file 15- 2659 noi 23-27 on the notice of intent from Potter Street solar LLC for a single family dwelling in a ground mounted solar panel array on the rear portion of

the lot within bordering land subject to flooding and the 100 foot buffer zone to bordering vegetated wetland it's on land described as map 138 lot 144 it's on Potter Street I'll entertain a motion to wave the reading I move second we have a second on the motion roll call vote Joe yes Richard yes Kyle yes Matt yes and I'm a yes that motion passes unanimously uh and I see Mr Farland and Mr Mar

attorney Marsh here so um whoever wants to speak on behalf of the applicant the floor is now yours good evening Mr chairman for the record Christian falland principal engineer and president of Fallen cup representing uh part Street solar LLC um the last meeting um we had made a decision to um do some soil additional soil testing out at the site um and if for it to be witnessed by um Mark Garrett and the D

we did schedule those tests um they they were performed a couple weeks ago um the results were um very similar to the previous 12 test pits we had so in all in all we have a total of 18 test pits throughout the entire site encompassing the entire limit of work um it was determined um and DP just most recently sent an email that that the site isn't not considered a landfill

um and did not require any additional any additional soil testing on site especially since we're we're just performing um proposing solar arrays on the on the site um since the last meeting we also advi uh revised the plans and addressed all of the department um engineering Department's comments um they signed off on the project and we also addressed all the peer review Gus roses comments and he has signed off on

the project as well um most recently I talked to uh Mark Garrett and I thought it would be a good good idea to propose although we we certainly didn't do any filling back in the 1960s for the site but I thought it would be a good idea um um as a good tenant and uh developer in the town of dmouth if we could try to clean up the site so we proposed um an actual mitigation plan

around the edge of the wetlands to clear up a lot of the invasive species and to uh to plant some native plantings along the area um to restore the area that was you know eventually was once um natural habitat um we feel by doing this and the proposal that we have is going to be a significant Improvement to what currently exists on the site and um we feel it's going to be a win-win for not

only for the developer but for the town as well and um we're hoping that the commission agrees with us um we've I feel we've done everything the commission has asked of us um and we hoping we can get approval so we can move forward with this project thank you thank you very much Christian uh Mark what are staff's comments on the um revisions and the proposal well first let me say that I I

I think I concur with everything that Christian said I think he presented everything uh quite accurately at what has transpired over the past two weeks um I guess the one I have a couple questions and not issues uh I certainly saw and I did forward to the Commissioners uh the state's response which has verbalized accurately uh I received it at 32 um so I read it I know what it says and I'm

not questioning what it says however this has been a year-long process and we have a lot of information that we have gone over for me to give the commission a recommendation to tonight would be not in the best interest of the commission and I don't think in the best interest of the applicant um I think we the the applicant has made vast improvements certainly this enhancement program that uh Christian

has uh referenced uh is and I did send you a copy of I think it was the first iteration of that plan uh is a huge step uh you know to protect the environment on a site which I'm going to be really honest with you having read the reports that were submitted previously and having observed six of the 18 test pits the new six that were done on November uh

14th I can't tell you how much Wetland was filled but I can tell you R was filled based on the soil characterizations of the Native soils underlying the Phill and the presence of groundwater in at least two or three of the test fits the new test fits that were done I fully understand that historical photographs show that much of the footprint was done in the 60s and while today that does not appear

to be a good use of W's back then there was no regulation of wellons uh you didn't even have to record filling that didn't start in 1972 I think in a good analysis of the historical photographs the footprint that we see today is largely the footprint that we saw before know Wetlands had asked the question about quantifying or cross referencing The Fill to the regulatory requirements at the time of specific disposals

the applicant was not involved in the site the applicant has no access to any kind of records and frankly I don't believe any records really exist I don't think people keeps that closely at the time so having said all that I think that the enhancement plan while nobody can say whether it's one: one or two to one or one to two doesn't matter it's I think an excellent step in advancing this project I do have

one question because and and I'll direct it at Christian but I know Brad Holmes who crafted the plan is with us and I have gone back with some emails on some minor points are we expecting a revised plan um based on any of the comments or revised notes on the plan based on the comments uh moving forward or are we staying with the plan that we have yeah yeah I think the plan that we have

um is is going to be the plan going forward I think what we may do is and and and Mark you may want to work with Brad on the on the conditions of approval for the you know the three years of monitoring um I would have no problem with that and you know I think some of the you know some areas may require additional plantings and other areas and again I

think that's all done in the field um I know Brad Brad may want to talk on it more and I he's the expert but just from my past experience that's typically how it would work I will tell you quite honestly in terms of and I haven't written anything yet but I've thought about it in terms of monitoring plan I don't think there is a three-year monitoring plan where you're proposing to eradicate a very gnarly aggressive

invasive if you get him out in three years I'm giving you Applause I don't know that you can guarantee it you can give it a good shot but you still may not not be successful so I would almost wave that time period and I'm thinking of just close coordination working with Brad and yourself as this progresses I predict I can't predict what's going to happen in month4 of an eradication program for not we I I can't

you know with how successful the the the program is uh against the agressiveness of the stand on site it's a case by things so I I can be very flexible with that my I just want in together a document a recommendation uh I need to reference plans of records and documents of records and I just wanted to know where we were going in terms of the plan uh you know moving

forward yeah I would I would an update yeah I would I would hold the um the last plan be sent as the the plan of record a reference uh that's that's pretty so I guess my in closing we have a meeting next Tuesday on December 5th and I will once I get tonight's permits out I will dedicate whatever it takes between now and then to get a set of a recommendation together that is in the

best interest of the applicant the commission the town moving forward thank you if that's okay so I would recommend to the commission a continuance just to allow me time to write that's until the December 5th meeting correct yes yes I will have it done by December 5th because I know these guys are anxious and I don't want to hold them up any longer than they they they need to be and I think we have

all the information that we can get are going to get and what we need to make a decision Okay Christian is that an acceptable request far as the yeah absolutely I mean we've we've held marck up quite a bit on this one it's definitely taken a lot of his time and effort and uh one more week we can certainly wait for we appreciate everybody's time I appreciate that Christian um so do any Commissioners have any

questions is there anyone in the audience that wants to be heard this evening I'm not going to close the public hearing but if you want to if you're here tonight for this and you want to be heard you may okay Commissioners there's been a recommendation from Mr Garrett and the applicant has indicated they think it's an acceptable request that we continue this public hearing for a one week until

Tuesday December 5 2023 at 7 p.m. right have a motion to that effect please so Mo second second motion roll call vote Joe yes Richard yes Kyle yes Matt yes and I'm a yes that motion passes unanimously we're moving on now to the uh second which is a continued public hearing D file 15- 2660 n 23-25 it's on the notice of intent from Potter Street solar l C for a single family dwelling and a ground mounted

solar panel array on the rear portion of the lot within bordering land subject to flooding and the 100 foot buffer zone to bordering vegetated Wetlands on map 138 lot

yes and I'm a yes as well that motion passes unanimously as mentioned before this is a companion to the first public hearing so I'd be seeking a motion to continue for one week until Tuesday December 5 2023 at 7M mo mo second second motion roll call vote Joe yes Richard yes Kyle yes Nat yes yes that motion passes unanimously we're moving on to the third which is the start of this Trilogy it's

continued public hearing D file 15- 2658 noi 23-26 on the notice of intent from Potter Street solar LLC proposing a ground mounted solar panel array on the rear portion of lot within bordering land subject to flooding and the 100 foot buffer zone to bordering vegetated Wetlands on land described as map 138 lot

144-20 hearing until Tuesday December 5 2023 at 7 p.m. second seconded motion roll call vote Joe yes Richard yes Kyle yes Matt yes and I'm a yes that motion passes unanimously thank you thank you guys we'll see you next week our fourth public hearing is a continued public hearing D file 15- 269 7 noi 2336 on the notice of intent from Rockland Farm excuse me um I said it right Rockland Farm Lane

LLC for the construction of a new single family home driveway in ground pool and a perces within bordering vegetated Wetland a 100 foot buffer zone bvw and within land subject the coastal storm Flowage on land described as map 118 lot 132 it's on Rockland Street uh I'll entertain a motion to wave the reading so move second the seconded motion roll call vote Joe yes Richard yes Kyle yes

Matt yes and I'm a yes that motion passes unanimously uh and I see Mr Farland here is are you here on this one as well Christian um I am not um I thought this one was continued yeah Mr chair was a request there was a request for that there's an email request uh for uh a continuance on this uh we have not received any any revised materials since the last batch

of materials we had which I forwarded to the commission so um Gilbert requested uh made an email request for continuance but it was date nonspecific um our process here is uh I don't know where they are in the process I know they were they needed some structural design components and things of that nature I'm inclined to recommend continuing this to 1219 uh we're going to have uh several

large hearings on the fit continued including the Potter streets but I think we're have a few others so I would suggest that we continue this to the 19th give them a little bit more time to get their ducks in a row and uh move forward that way yeah that that's fine I know we're waiting on the structural engineer I know they're really uh he's really backed up so we're still waiting to hear

back from him okay thank you um there any Commissioners have any questions is there anyone in the audience that wants to be heard tonight knowing that we're likely to vote to continue this until the 19th don't see any uh Commissioners I entertain a motion to continue this public hearing until Tuesday December 19 2023 at 7 p.m. so moved second second we have a seconded motion on the floor roll call vote Joe yes

Richard yes Kyle yes Matt yes and I'm a yes as well that motion passes unanimously thank you we're now going on to our fifth public hearing which is a continued public hearing D file 15-276 noi 23-45 on the notice of intent from Silas Costa to construct the single family home with a garage subsurface sewage Disposal system and regrading in the 100 foot buffer zone to bordering vegetated

Wetland Sun Land described his map 24 lot 73-10 Road M a motion to wave the so move second second we have seconded motion on the floor roll call vote Joe yes Richard yes Kyle yes Matt yes and I'm a yes that motion passes unanimously is there someone here this evening on behalf of the applicant hi Mr chairman Andrew stackpole from field engineering um good evening everyone um I'll share my screen here real quickly

to show the uh the map um as you recall from the previous meeting uh there was a section of the Wetland line that had to be defined uh between a few flags that Mark had requested so in circled here I've I've shown that we've corrected that line um in addition we've drwn tried to establish some underp put buffer lines in here I mean pretty much the entire sites encroached by 100 foot buffer on

both sides so we tried to draw some assemblance of 100 foot buffer off of that new line which you can see to the top of the um above the uh where it says 100 put buffer um in addition we have some other lines coming from the wetlands from the Northwest um and that's pretty much the corrections that we made on the plan you know if anybody wanted to be refreshed on the project or if we just

need to go over the new data I I only need the new data but I'm speaking for myself anybody dat is fine new data is fine new data as well new data is fine dat is fine very good so you got your marching orders now just the new data okay Mark staff's comments yeah Andrew kind of summed it up uh we needed some lines of adjusted and that was the only reason for the

continuance uh I don't know if you recall but the buffer zone line actually came from the north and actually bisected a portion of the septic system it kind of went around the house to the east side I believe and crossed through the Wetland or the septic system which didn't make any sense because we had the Wetland line that Andrew has cir uh and so what was it was just an inaccurate depiction of the uh the

buffer zone uh so what I did was in the plans that I sent you I highlighted the new lines in question the new buffer zone which is that jog to the east on the Northern end and the uh old uh to the Southwest remained the same that was accurate off of the pond to the southeast and the offsite wetland so this plan certainly informs with the accuracy on the ground and uh given that I am uh

recommending that we issue a standard order of conditions for the project as per the plan dated November 15 2023 which is this version of the plan which was submitted to to us okay and uh any Commissioners have any questions is there one anyone in the audience who wants to be heard on this application I don't see any um at this point I'll entertain a motion to close the public hearing so move second second

on that roll call vote Joe yes Rich Richard I don't see M okay um Kyle yes Matt yes yes yes there he is he's it's so we yes nature your called I apologize gentlemen okay so it's a unanimous uh vote and now Commissioners what is your pleasure on this request andain a motion for issuance of an order of conditions with our standard conditions make a motion for a standard order of conditions mck I'm sorry what

was the date on the plan November 15 uh according to the latest plan dated November 15 2023 second we have a seconded motion roll call vote Joe yes Richard yes Kyle yes Matt yes and I'm a yes that motion passes unanimously we have our six public hearing which is on D file 15- 2549 noi 2348 it's on the request for an amended order of conditions to modify permitted single family home and Associated site

grading and layout at map 128 plot 14-9 it's on Avis Street my one question is um who's it from oh it's it's David verat okay from David vermet um make a motion the reading all right we second on that motion second a seconded motion roll call vote Joe yes Richard yes Kyle yes Matt yes and I'm a yes that motion passes unanimously and on behalf of the applicant we have uh good evening Mr

chairman and commission members Steven giosa representing the applicant this evening and what I can do is uh share my screen for you please um and what we have is a uh request to amend the order of conditions which was granted for this project back in 2021 um and this is a single family residential home development um it is lot two of a three lot open space project that was approved uh through

planning a number of years ago and conservation um it located off of Avis Street which is a residential roadway which intersects with Elm Street and Elm Street is located to the west of the subject property so this is the middle lot of the three lot development there was an approval for a single family home generally in the same location what the applicant is proposing is to shift the

house a little bit to the West so away from the resource area the wellins being located down on the eastern border of this particular lot uh the house has actually been shifted to the west and expanded in size but basically a lateral expansion as opposed to a depth expansion to the lot the basic grading scheme Remains the Same we have a walk out to eliminate placement of a lot of fill on the

Wetland side or the east side of the dwelling utilities are proposed to be connected to the utility lines that have been installed within the uh access and utility easement on the west side of the property uh driveway access coming out and uh intersecting a common driveway which has been constructed along the the front of of the lot here um the overall limit of work has remained the same we do have a erosion

control Sil fence line with uh straw Waddles uh proposed along the downg gradient Edge and we've maintained the um proposal to install a post and rail fence on the downg gradient edge of the work limit to further differentiate between the um hopefully approved portion of the lot and the adjacent uh resource area so it is a buffer zone project Water and Sewer connection and most of the grading occurring in the um

areas away from the Wetland resource area so think of minor changes and we're looking to have the commission make this the plan of record so the applicant Mo can move forward with this uh proposal thank you Mr gios Mark what is staffs comments and recommendations on this request yeah I think Steve summed it up I mean it's we we've approved a single family uh residential development here the house was

slightly smaller uh but this expansion is lateral it's not as Steve said depth related they have pulled it a little farther away from the Wetland it's really not much of a change over what we have uh approved what we've approved in the past for this particular site so having said that staff is recommending a standard order of conditions as the end order of conditions per the plan dated November 21st

2023 thank you Mark do any Commissioners have any questions is there anyone in the audience that wants to be heard on this application seeing none I'll entertain a motion to close the public hearing moved second a call vote on motion Joe yes Richard yes Kyle yes n yes and I'm a yes that motion passes unanimously Commissioners what is your pleasure on this request Rec commend standard order of

conditions as of for the plan submitted November 21st 2023 we have a motion we have a second on the motion second seconded motion roll call vote Joe yes Richard yes Kyle yes Matt yes and I'm a yes that motion passes unanimously very good thank you thank you all right good night Steve good night Steve our uh seventh is a public hearing the EP file 15- 2710 noi 23- 49 on the notice of intent from Peter

and Leia I no I mispronounced that I'm sorry Costa to construct a 30 footx 40 foot Workshop in the 100 foot buffer zone to bordering vegetated Wetland on land described as map 24 lot I take a motion to wave the reading move move second seconded motion roll call vote Joe yes Richard yes Kyle yes Matt yes I'm a yes as well that motion passes unanimously and is there someone Mr stackpole you here on behalf of the

applicant yes yes chairman I am and it's uh you're were close it was Leticia that was close okay oh let me share my screen here um we go okay can uh can everybody see that I don't see it on my screen sorry see here should come up that did now we got it okay great okay um again we uh the lot number you read off on the agenda this is basically

adjacent to the lot we were just discussing discussing the pond up here to the Northwest um long skinny lot off of lpam Lane um existing residents to the South um The Proposal is to construct a woodworking shop on the property um over the top of an existing there little chicken CP there is a little structure um this is going to be was going to be a slab on grade it's it's within the 100

foot buffer um it's 20 it's outside the 20 foot no no touch buffer 25t Wetland no touch buffer um proposal is to do a a Woodworking Shop pretty much at grade um not changing um the elevations or grading in the vicinity of The Woodworking Shop um this the floor elevation would be about six inches above the existing uh 496 um you can see there's a gravel drive located just to the east of the

proposed structure um that would just be an entrance area wouldn't be for now there's no garage doors proposed it's just an area so they could get a large door to get um his um equipment in and uh access the shop so basically um we proposed this going to be constructed all unsuitable fill would be you know taken out on the footprint of the building would be removed offsite um suitable soil brought in under the slab

um and you see on the on the east on the western side of the building there' be a higher elevation foundation wall but outside of that all the Contours would remain the same the elevations would stay the same so no grading on the outside to minimize any disruption in the area uh utilities um will be coming off of the utility Pole located in the center of the site um just under buried

underground to the to the to the proposed wood shop um you can see that we are within obviously within 100 foot buffer um you can see the Wetland Flags pending any questions that's all I have okay thank you um Mark staff's comments on this request yes this is kind of an interesting lot uh as are most of the Lots out in this area uh one of the most notable features is that the existing

residential home is set deep into the lot so a lot of what's developed is actually more in the front of the lot uh and you know typically you would want this as far away from the wetlands as you possibly could get it which would flip it to the east side of the parcel however if you look you'll see that there are sheds uh this is a quasi agricultural use there's uh you know B hens and other

other other animals as are on budding Lots here so it's it's very you know uh consistent usage and with the existing access roads in and out to

reconformation developed and used area uh you know given the presence of the the old chicken Coupe uh so having said all that um the only one concern you have with a building of this type is does it become an ancillary uh residential use I know it's not proposed as one right now but things change over time so having said that uh staff is recommending a standard order of conditions for the plan dated November 2nd

2023 with the additional condition of no water or additional residential usage to the workshop I understand he needs power that's why I didn't say utilities he needs electric if it's going to be a workshop I get that but uh there should be no Plumbing for bathrooms sinks because all of those things then become part and parcel of a potential future residential use I would add that one uh

restrictive condition otherwise the project appears uh appropriate to me thank you uh Mark do any commissioner have a question uh the applicant or or staff not see none is there anyone in the audience that wants to be heard on this request see none I'll entertain a motion to close the public hearing so move second have a seconded motion roll call Vote Yes Richard yes Kyle yes Matt yes I'm a yes that motion passes

unanimously Commissioners what is your pleasure on this request recommend St standard order of conditions as per plan submitted November 2nd 2023 with the uh restrictions and conditions referenced by Mark Mr Mark Garrett second we have a seconded motion roll call vote Joe yes Richard yes Kyle yes Matt yes and I'm a yes that motion passes unanimously thank you thank you very much have a good night good

night our eighth public hearing is on D file 15- 2709 noi 2351 it's on the notice of intent from Kenneth steam car of pass masket Land Company to construct a medical office building 17544 Square ft and Associated parking lighting subsurface utilities and a storm water management system in the 100 foot buffer zone to a bordering vegetated Wetland on land described as map 68 lot 34-4 it's otherwise known as

491 fance corner Road I obtain a motion to wave the reading Mo second second on that we have second so it's roll call vote Joe yes Richard yes Kyle yes Matt yes I'm yes that motion passes unanimously is there someone here this evening on behalf of the applicant uh yes Mr Steen Phil Cordo from Allen and major Associates is here along with Mr kenin representing the project okay the floor is yours thank

you with permission I'll share my screen to walk the commission through the project that'd be helpful thank you thank you okay and just confirming everybody's able to see that all right yes I can fantastic thank you so so the subject that we talked about this evening as you represented in the opening is on lot four of pass command at Office Park which is off of fwn Corner Road which is

a plan Office Park development which you're familiar with it has the solar cannabis company it has Dunkin Donuts it has a new newly constructed office building right along Fon Corner Road and at the rear of the site uh we have an extension of the marijuana parking lot of satellite parking lot and storm water management for the central roadway uh that is part of the project this commission has last seen this site

development um as part of the master plan development which included several Wetland resource areas at the rear of the property including a BBW surrounding a stream channel that the driveway crosses over as a culvert as part of the um Office Park and then Wetland series j i y and z as shown on the easterly portion of the site it is the area on the north side of our site driveway

sandwich between the BBW and the series J that we're asking for permission from the commission this evening to construct this office building uh which is shown as a footprint of approximately 17544 it's a single story medical office building uh with Associated parking approximately 89 parking spaces some of which will be shared by the existing marijuana parking lot construction that

is already in place um the the building is flanked to the west by by the BBW Zone that ultimately goes to the covin under the driveway that I referenced and to the east by the C by the isolated Wetland Series J and series I um the existing driveway for the office Park is constructed and I'll just note it for the commission's benefit uh to approximately here um that's the current Terminus of the pavement but a gravel

roadway is constructed sandwich between the Wetland resource areas that actually accesses the solar field at the back of the project so let me just bring the imagery back up just to refresh the commission um there so you can see the parking lot as constructed you can see storm water management as constructed the end of the pavement approximately here with the cursor is moving and then

a graveled roadway continuing through between the two Wetland Pockets out to the solar field in the back um so those are the resource areas that are there we will be doing a buffer zone only based project so I'll flip it over to the grading plan so you can see the extent of what we're seeking to do um construction of the building in the parking lot um we do have to bring in

some fill to support the building and also to support adequate cover excuse me over our storm water management system and in doing so we'll add some transitional slopes on the easterly side of the building uh we we are endeavoring to hold at least 15 to 20 feet off of the resource areas as a healthy buffer to make sure uh the vegetation remains in place being an important function to

those resource areas um the storm water collection uh as one would imagine uh meets all of the requirements of the town of Dartmouth and also the M EP storm water management system with deep s hooded catch basins we have water quality devices to treat for total sediment removal and other pollutants um the system will ultimately flow through a storm water infiltration Basin located

here which is actually on lot five of the project the planned Office Park project um prior to that we do have planned a subsurface infiltration system that will be installed as part of the storm water management as lot five is developed so if this project is approved by the Conservation Commission this evening and it's already been approved by the planning board uh we will construct the primary um infiltration

Basin but the subsurface infiltration field will be retained for a future construction when lot five is fully developed um everything that we're presenting here this evening um has been reviewed by the planning board as I mentioned several weeks ago they approved it subject to a final approval by the town of Dartmouth DPW Department uh of which we have addressed through revision the substance

of their initial comments we've been coordinating with Mr Paul Dart directly over there um we also were in receipt of comments from your conservation agent as well as the commission's peer reviewer Gus Raposa um we have revised those the plans accordingly to address those comments um in short M Mr Rose's comments wanted to make sure we incorporated some operation and maintenance elements onto the plan

which we're happy to do and those were provided over um with regard to the agent comments it was ensuring we had the correct buffer zone shown to the Wetland resource areas uh we also wanted to make sure that the sil fence was properly and accurately depicted as preferred by the commission um and the agent also requested that we provide some additional Landscaping on the resource area sides of our slopes which

uh in this area here we had previously only show only called for an erosion mix on those slopes um on the revised plans we have included um High Bush blueberry and some dogwood trees to add some Wetland compatible species there which will obviously be a healthier mix for that rear slope so we're happy to accommodate those um in terms of what the commission may recall on in terms of

storm water on lot five um a previous application that came in front of this commission was for an office building um and the previous application had approval for a storm water basin already on lot five so this is really a modification of what the town has already approved I know the commission we should not treat that as precedent this is a new and Standalone application U but I just want to draw attention that

uh the commission has seen it before the storm water elements have passed review before and um we're confident that everything is fine in this case as well um short of any additional questions I'm happy to walk through the details on the site planning aspects or any other elements within the buffer zone work um to the commission's pleasure thank you thank you Mark uh I'd like to hear staff's comments on this

proposal yeah uh my before I get into my comments which I think Phil has uh adequately summarized Phil have you submitted those revised plans yet because I don't I seen them uh we have sir everything has been uploaded through through the portal Gus has received them Gus has commented on them yes sir I know Gus has I don't I don't know that I have were they on the are they on the

portal yes sir they are okay I I I was not alerted to them so I have not seen the revisions related to my comments I appreciate your response to them but uh at at this juncture I haven't looked at those uh particularly I was looking at the uh previous okay s happy to walk through them of course so happy to share this no no that's fine I I I have not seen this plan

yet what's the date on this uh if I could ask uh you you of course can ask uh November 20 sir okay November 20 all right uh well I mean it says value they look fine um I I think I want a little bit more time to look at them than here before I address uh address specifically comments uh I do have another question if Ken's on and listening yeah

uh for the developer yes and um in a previous conversation that you and I had I you made it clear that this is somewhat time sensitive this project yeah yes yes sir it is a it is a project with a with a with a medical company called ma Fallon medical out of Wester Mass CL sensitive in a sense that they have a contract um with actually a Mass health and Medicare um and so they are obligated

under this contract to be operational in August um which I know that's not the commission's problem but I think it's a great project for the town of Dartmouth it's going to serve the local community it's going to serve uh it's an El the purpose of the project is to be a um fullservice medical facility for elderly folks um 55 and older uh within the general community so it's it's actually

uh it's an amazing advantage that Dartmouth through the Medicare and Mass health program was chosen um to be for this site was to be chosen for that the location of such a building so um anyway in any case that that's the situation and uh we'll we'll work through it I'm sure thank you I guess the the reason for my question Ken is if I were to ask for a continuance until December 5th

which is next Tuesday our next meeting would that crimp you that severely I mean I'd like a chance to sit and look at the plan I like to you know I'm old school I like to play with crayons you know certainly Mark listen I'm sure uh you know seven days isn't isn't the end of the world obviously we're at we're we're the time of the year that we're at um you know you know

creates a little bit of an additional uh you know you know critical timing if you will but certainly uh you know seven days isn't isn't going to be the end of the world so I mean of course I understand my general comment is I am in favor of the project uh you know conceptually it was just these little tweets that I wanted to see and I I'd like to see you know the big plan rolled

out you know in front of me uh so I could take some time and look at it so um as far as my other comments were concerned I think that Phil covered them in that you know this has been a a site that you know an industrial complex that has been reviewed by the town uh on several occasions there have been several filings uh associated with P comman at land developers and with the bgo solar field

in the back so I think I know this site as probably as well as any site in town uh spent a lot of time on it um so I I'm inclined I'm very supportive of the project I would just ask if we could continue this to the fifth to give me a chance to sit and look at the plans I apologize if they were directed I never got tinged on it I know that the other

issue we have is that um that D has uh verbalized it I think you covered everything but I have not yet seen a report from him in writing I know he said something in uh in um did he send something today he did send it see I he he did he did this afternoon let me see pop it up for you here we go the commission hasn't seen it and we have a five-day policy um so

uh and I know I saw the ear ear uh email that he was going to send the letter but I I didn't see the letter until just now exactly that's not best his fault because frankly I was running away a chick with my head cut off uh you know we had a loaded agenda tonight and I had to deal with everybody you know equally so I didn't get a chance to see this

sure I guess I would just ask that uh give me a week to compile everything together and uh I think we can we can close this uh on the 5ifth mark thank you very much we appreciate your timely response to all of this uh I know this came about pretty quickly and we we're thankful that you put us on the agenda for this evening and um certainly uh you know seven days isn't going to be the

end of the world and again we appreciate it anything we can do in the meantime between now and next week just let myself or Phil know and we'll be happy to address any any issues that you have thank you okay thank you um okay do any Commissioners have any questions while we have this public meeting uh open okay is there anyone in the audience that wants to be heard this evening uh knowing that we're going to

take a vote to continue okay I don't see any Commissioners I'll entertain a motion to continue this public hearing until Tuesday December 5 2023 at 7 p.m. so Jo move second we have a seconded motion roll call vote Joe yes Richard yes kle yes Nat yes I'm a n that a I'm a yes unanimously a tickle on my throat out without coughing online here okay number nine we we have file number on this yes

we did get a file number it is 15-2 7 27 I'm sorry I didn't hear you 11 11 thank you so we have a public hearing on D file 15- 2711 on the notice in of intent from Jason and Mary Kate Roy to construct an addition to a single family home in the 100 foot buffer zone to bordering vegetated Wetland on land described as map 66 slot 2- 87 it's otherwise known as 18 hummingbird Trail

I'll entertain a motion to wave the reading move second we have a seconded motion roll call vote Joe yes Richard yes Kyle yes Matt yes and I'm a yes as well that passes unanimously um on behalf of the applicant who is here don't think anybody is here because they did submit an email request for continuance to uh December 5th and I forwarded that onto the commission right before I left on Wednesday when I

received it prior to Thanksgiving uh if I could give you a little background uh they filed this on the portal um and I reviewed the proposal I actually did a site visit they were relying on a an old Wetland line that I had put out I believe in 2019 and uh um it was the line was put out for another engineering firm for a previous homeowner Flags evid in the field and

you know people think that well you just walk out on a site you remember the Wet Ones well they were using a surveyed line and I don't know that I would have landed on the same exact spots so I I commented on the portal that um they should be rehung now apparently there were two stubs out there which were very stubby and unless you walked right up to the tree you didn't see them

and they had weathered away and I they looked I went out today and they looked pretty original um because they did restate the flagging however the other issue was that there was some sort of issue with the tax collector I I'm not sure if it was property taxes or water bills or something of that in order but there was an outstanding balance and they shut the project the file down on the portal

which means that nobody can act on it they literally froze it so uh after a conversation with uh the um what's her what's Mary uh yesterday she was quite upset about it and I said well Mary Kate I said I can't do much to help you cuz I'm not the tax collector deal with them uh to make a long story short she did and apparently the tax collector cleared everything late yesterday afternoon

which then freed everybody else up to get back into reviewing problem is that you know everybody's running around busy so not all departments got to sign off on this so at this point I felt it was even though I had gone out and looked at the Wetland line and felt fairly comfortable uh with the proposal uh based on that Wetland line seeing it in the field again uh I I

thought it was premature to close it so I contacted the engineer uh Zenith land surveyor and he agreed to extend uh to uh December 5th so that's why we're continuing just a lot of stuff happened very very late which seemed to be the uh the trend for this agenda everything seemed to happen very very late okay do any Commissioners have any questions is there anyone in the audience here this evening that wants to be

heard I don't see any so at this point I would entertain a motion to continue this public hearing until Tuesday December 5 20123 at 7 p.m so Move seconded Motion roll call vote Joe yes Richard yesy yes Matt yes and I'm yes so that motion passes unanimously and that concludes our public hearings we're now moving on to our items for discussion um first is bills I guess we bills so Mark you want to discuss our

discussion items yeah sure I'll go through them um the first one is 85 mccave Street I uh as part of the packet I sent out there's a letter from giosa dated actually it's a memo dated November 21st 2023 and there was a little attachment uh sketch attachment uh apparently and this discussion has been going on for a while uh the current owner uh George Verismo and got a um an order of conditions for a

plan uh put together by Zenith L survey which is the base plan as to what uh I sent you when they went out to build what they had um that what had been approved there was a problem with the elevations and basically the uh the 68 elevation that was being used when you dug to that you were really creating like a a hole that was going to be like a permanent water

feature right in the backyard uh and that became a problem so George Verso contacted me and I said well George I said you know can only go on what a stamped plan says I have a lands Bayer showing me uh elevations so you got to you know that's what I have to live with I mean I don't go out there with rod and check the stuff so anyway to make a long story

short he um contacted Steve giosa and Steve went out and checked the benchmarks and found that the elevations on the plan of record are about 6 inch off they were six inches lower than they should have been so what Steve did was did this little I call a red line but the the corrections or the edits are in green uh and basically came kept the same configuration but revised uh the

elevations and uh so he asked he he said to me he says what Zenith proposed won't work because those grades don't exist out in the field you'd have to dig up the whole site to get to you know create that grading so he proposed this modification which does not change anything on the site it just in Steve's opinion puts it at a correct elevation it will function this is an area to

retain uh 100-year storm water that was displaced by the proposed house that was built uh so functionally everything's the same it's just the numbers are wrong and they understand that they're going to have to provide us with an asbu plan uh at the time that they apply for a certificate of compliance so I'm just passing this off to you I think that you know it looks worse than it is

I think at the end of the day it's uh much more functional uh and correctly functional to the spirit of the order of conditions so uh they are going to proceed on that uh premise moving forward so that's basically an FYI for for you folks uh second item Smith Mills split rail fence I sent a picture last week uh Tim Lancaster the director of parks and recck uh came to me and said you know

you guys own Smith Mills Park but we maintain it have you taken a look at the split rail fence that sits right adjacent to the dam on the pasam Manet River and I said no I haven't noticed it he said well it's pretty deteriorated went out took a picture it's got no no split rails the posts are probably pretty rotten and probably should be replaced he said that he will he he

would replace it as part of normal maintenance and I told him it's a public safety issue uh we're not going to wait you know to file to do something that to maintain something that exists in a lawn area next to a stone wall that you know drops to a stone Dam and uh a rocky splash pad people use that Park and uh so I have told him to go ahead so if you see or

hear anything about fence work in Smith Mills Park that's what it is okay uh the last uh let's see the third item is the graia APR letter for trailer this is this is an FYI uh some of you maybe all of you will a few months well maybe about a month and a half ago we uh were talking about this very a this very uh this APR relative to a bank proposal on another a

separate parcel okay it's the same APR We Own It the APR was drawn up in the early 80s or the 70s I forget the uh but the it wasn't a complaint it was a question by someone apparently a woman I shouldn't say that a person I don't know it's a woman uh has put a recreational vehicle on a portion of the APR if you know where mcconville Lane is which goes north of Old Fall River Road

just to the east of Turner's Pond uh it's a it's a single Lane cart path laneway that goes you know deep into to the APR there's a residence in the back that may be the degus residence um but just before you get to the residence to the east of the laneway there is a substantial recreational vehicle on a piece of land and the woman I keep saying the woman the person uh who is using that recreational

vehicle has least a portion of the land to raise animals I think pigs and chickens and the like they have built a substantial wooden shelter you know that speaks nothing uh more than agricultural use the question becomes in the APR in the opening limitations it says it either says no mobile homes or no trailers I forget I forget the exact phrase phology but that was written at a time when these vehicles were somewhat

different I think um and if you read further into the APR restrictions and allowances uh it the APR does allow for structures to be used for temporary residences for Farm Workers you know who are in the business of Agriculture this kind of Falls within a gray area because I think that RVs could be fit the definition of a structure but they also could fit the issue of a mobile home or a

trailer um I have not pursued it I basically set the person who made the comments and the complaints I set them on a path to try to research this out a little bit more because frankly I don't have the time to you know dive deep into this again um I'm putting you folks on notice since the commission is Theo is the holder along with the state of the APR um and looking for some guidance I

mean you know I could write a letter to Mr degier as an inquiry uh do I do I want to do we want to do that that now do we want to wait sit on it you can't see it from the road and it's from my standpoint a pretty benign use however it probably needs some sort of Permitting not necessarily by us but by others for you know using mobile homes for transient residential

use so uh I'm bringing that up you know for a quick brainstorm here to see where we want to go with it I guess my my my initial comment is if it's not an issue involving Wetlands protection act or the town bylaws regarding Wetlands we the wrong forum for the complaint so wouldn't that appropriately be you know either building inspector's office war no we're the whole we're the whole we're the town's holder the APR

well then okay so if we're the town's holder of the APR and you're going out and you've seen it and you don't know that it's really that bad of a thing I'm not so sure that we you know need to do anything other than the fact to tell them make sure that they don't expand that use um I'm just troubled by the fact though that this this is true that this is

being done with Mr deia's knowledge I mean this guy was you know here to try to get around something he did a while ago on for the for the credit union or for the bank and he's now still violating it I'm wondering if he even knows what it what he agreed to do oh I think I think you know and I'm not trying to defend him but I mean he's clearly trying

to get re you know Financial resource to support his lifestyle and if he's living on an APR you know support you know support the existence of the APR I don't know what the lease area is I don't know what the lease agreement is it certainly looks like it's going to be an agricultural use and you know I I'm troubled I mean look I could go out there and say hey it's a mobile home you

can't have it get it off the land but it's being it's it's not a trailer park it's it's clearly a an AG use uh you know based on the Land Based on the structures that are there uh so I'm you know I'm I'm kind of quitting the middle um and you're really have to drive in there to see it to you know to be bothered by it I don't know I don't know how this

person even noticed it except maybe they were walking on the laneway and saw it you can't you can't see it from all four River Road it's it's got to be I don't know maybe a quarter mile maybe a little less but it it's it's it's deep down that lane where oh I mean you know the the fact that it can't be seen from the road is is really an issue that I don't

a fact I don't really consider it relevant because either they violated it or they didn't andly this is not this is a borderline case because you're thinking that that it could be that they're using it for agriculture which is what they're allowed to do but it specifically Pro states that there's no mobble homes and that's what it is so you know what where are you with it in in terms of it's interpretive okay to

me you've got a mobile home there you I mean honestly I think what I would do is say I'm going to have a discussion with the graia what are you using it for what's what's its use and if it's being rented then get it off if it's being somehow or rather an office or something for the agricultural thing probably Let It Go I mean I can't imagine that it's going to be that upsetting to the

overall uh covenants but on the other hand you know we do have a duty then if we're the holder of the covenants to act as good stewards and not just to allow things to happen happened we're lucky this person saw it because we never would have seen it not I went up in an airplane yeah why would you I mean you know we never would have seen it um and that's probably you

know but because it's so hard to find doesn't mean that it doesn't exist so I think that's the only thing is what what are you doing with this why is it there what's the purpose of it am am I hearing you say you want me to draft a letter to him and inquire what's going going on well I think we have to I think you know it's been brought to our

attention and you know we say this this has been brought to our attention we confirmed it's there what are you using it for what is and then let let the response then dictate what we do next we don't have to tell them by the way if you're using it for uh habitation it's got to move we don't tell them why we're asking we just ask yeah I I agree with Mike's comments

and I I also I'm afraid of setting a precedent so that every APR could be turned into a trailer park and uh I if if he is allowed to keep it for agricultural Associated activities um it shouldn't be a decision that sets a precedent and is um U can be used as um for other people to do similar things each each each use of in this regard should be approved

individually I I agree you know and and frankly um I think it's also important that when we have somebody who reports something to us you know it it's certainly um the good citizen maybe they had bad motive but the good citizen says hey there's something you should be aware of I know you can't see it from the road but I saw this um I think we have a duty to act on

those things which are and what I would also recommend is if if you're instructing me to write the letter which I think you are I would copy it to mdar yeah absolutely they they hold more of it than we do we hold a small percentage of it they own more own more of it than we do I think you're absolutely right and that that's that's definitely okay we can do

that it's not that I want to go to battle over it but I do think we have an we have an obligation I mean that and that's you know we're the holder of it you or one of the holders of it I mean and who's to say uh you know another one doesn't show up uh six months down the road and then it it turns into something bigger than it needs to

be yeah and I I think that one thing that this should tell us though is is that in these situations where owners of farms Family Farms with aprs on them are trying to save the farm if this is the state of you know transient residential uses for f hands uh we probably should be aware that we may see this again on other parcels and and you know Joe references a trailer park

I this has no indication of being a trailer park from my visual okay uh and of trailer park would be verboten I get that but uh you know you you now we're getting into that that squeeze where we're looking at regulatory language that was written 50 years ago and times are changing and they're changing faster than the regulatory language can catch up and something is standard operating procedure

today you know you're you're we're going to have to address it so all I'm suggesting is we should be thinking about this you know wherever we have you know some ownership take uh on a on a use restriction whether it's conservation or APR or what have you so but I will craft a letter and I will send it out and I will copy you Mike on the letter I appreciate that um okay

and I'm mindful of your comments I mean a lot of things change and sometimes the regulations lag significantly behind the changes right and I and I you know like you're a land you're a land use attorney I don't know how a judge would look at this you know I I tend to think judges would probably be a little bit more lenient you know on this and say look this is what they're living in now on

farms get over yourself might be you know if it's truly an agricultural use and you need it to try to preserve the farm I I can't imagine using their Equity powers that a judge would hold them to every I dotted and T crust but you know honestly I think from our standpoint we've we've been alerted to a potential violation we have an issue we make the request uh and let the other stakeholders know about it let's

see what the response is yeah okay we'll do um my next discussion item is more of a reminder to you folks uh given the way the holidays set up this year there tends to be a slightly bigger gap between Thanksgiving and Christmas than we normally have so what that did was it have two meetings in uh December and not get TI up with the holidays we scheduled a meeting for next week okay

so next Tuesday we have a regular scheduled me meeting so I'm just reminding you go you folks of that uh so it'll be a quick turnaround uh so just be aware the last item I have is uh I've just went gone through the pleasurable experience of uh changing uh my cell phone and in switching all my stuff over as is always the case not all of it all the stuff went over uh could I have

Mike's number I have Richard's number and I have Patty's number Joe Kyle Nat and uh I'm gonna have to ask Jim could you please email me uh a cell number uh so that I can put it into my my contacts again uh just so I have that because I know that there are times when we sometimes have to call I usually have my phone sitting right here so I I can make

the calls uh much faster than others so if you can just get me that for contact purposes I appreciate it I have Mike I have Richard and I have Patty's already I'm done I I have no new items or any items to bring up if any commissioner does now's your time all right seeing none I'll entertain a motion to adjourn move second second roll call vote Joe yes Richard yes yes n yes Nama yes meeting is

adjourned at

8:32