Jon Delli Priscoli was voted an Order of Conditions for a proposed elevated staircase to the beach at 162 Point Road, per the Marion Conservation Commission during its June 14 public meeting.
Project representative David Davignon of Schneider, Davignon & Leone, Inc., said he had an aerial photo from 1985 indicating a beach-access point, as corroborated by the property’s former owners in an email. That access, said Davignon, was destroyed by Hurricane Bob (1991.) Since then, the vegetation has grown to the edge of the lawn at the property and obscures a stone bank.
The proposal plans a staircase with an air gap below the vegetation. The 20-foot drop would be bridged with 14 anchors. Two sections of deck would be prebuilt, then dropped into place, the staircase to be built between them.
“We should be able to do the project with minimal disturbance,” said Davignon, noting that the work is along the coastal bank.
He said the MassDEP issued a file number and had no comments.
Conservation Commission Chairman Jeff Doubrava, who had visited the site, had no issues. Commissioner Shaun Walsh asked about the condition of the beach where the staircase will land. Davignon said the last step will land at beach grade. He said the surface there is “mainly cobble. … You wouldn’t want to lay out there on a blanket.”
Walsh observed that a nearby staircase ends above the beach grade due to recent, storm-driven erosion.
One of the certificates of compliance considered for William and Elizabeth Weber at 21 East Avenue was met with concern from Commissioner Ethan Gerber over a drainage pipe that as Doubrava described, is sending drainage unfiltered down into the cove.
“That looked like a pretty significant deviation from what was permitted,” he said.
Walsh said a catch basin had been installed where the driveway meets the road and a pipe under the landscaped area discharges. He noted that Davignon did not design the drainage pipe.
“This concerns me because I have no idea the volume of runoff that’s going into that catch basin and hence the volume and velocity of the runoff exiting that pipe,” said Walsh, speculating that a Davignon design would have been similar to the one he did at the end of the causeway road.
Estimating that the end of the drainpipe is 20 feet from the shoreline, Walsh wanted to clarify that a Certificate of Compliance does not constitute approval of that drainage design. It was not part of Davignon’s plan on behalf of the Webers.
While he said the issue is not grounds for the withholding of a COC, Walsh indicated he would like to see Davignon design a reconfiguration of that system.
Davignon said he was perfectly comfortable receiving a COC and a request to file a Request for Determination of Applicability to revise the drainage plan. Doubrava was not comfortable issuing a COC until the commission receives the RDA. Davignon requested a continuance of the discussion to July 12, and the commissioners voted to honor that request.
Great Hill Marion LLC, Cathy Stone, was issued a Negative Determination of Applicability for spot treatment to halt the spread of phragmites in Areas 2, 3 and 4 at North Great Hill Drive.
Stone told the commission her group has been working on the issue for a while to prevent the phragmites’ spread. “Hopefully, this will be the last time we have to apply for a permit to do this … it’s not gone completely,” she said. The treatment will include chemical treatment and swiping in individual spots.
Doubrava said the area is much improved over several years ago.
John and Theresa Cederholm, trustees of the Cederholm Nominee Trust, were voted a Negative Determination of Applicability for minor clearing and grading within land subject to coastal-storm flowage in order to access a building site at East Avenue.
Project representative Brian Grady of G.A.F. Engineering said a third of the side is inside the flood zone, but the bulk of the work is outside the flood zone. Grady said that the dwelling on the lot, as well as the septic system and driveway, are outside the flood zone. He said the neighbors had long used the lot as a garden.
Sally Gaglini, DGZ Realty LLC, was voted an Order of Conditions to renovate a single-family house to include a two-car garage and associated grading at 10 Hartley Lane.
James Connolly was voted an Order of Conditions for the construction of a single-story addition to a two-story house at 92 Dexter Road.
In his Conservation Agent Report, Doug Guey-Lee reported to the commission regarding two freshly cut pine trees that had been thrown into the water from 196 Point Road. He observed other items. Doubrava said the harbormaster observed debris that would have been a hazard to navigation.
Appearing at the meeting, the resident at the address said the trees were dead, and while it may have been bad judgment to expect them to be biodegradable at the bottom of the hill, he said they can remove the trees.
Commissioner Emil Assing said two trees should be replanted in the same area that the two had existed. Identifying the hill as a “coastal bank,” Walsh said it’s important to recognize jurisdictional areas, especially for waterfront properties as protected by the state’s Wetlands Act. He explained that the commission should have been given a say before the trees, albeit dead, were removed. The good thing, Walsh said, is that the stumps are still there.
The commission’s position was that removal of the logs will suffice with a report to Guey-Lee.
In separate votes, the commission voted to issue certificates of compliance to Dale and Laura Briggs for work performed at 23 Dexter Road.
The Marion Conservation Commission was scheduled to meet on Wednesday, June 28, and is scheduled to next meet on Wednesday, July 12, at 7:00 pm.
Marion Conservation Commission
By Mick Colageo