A backyard will get 50 feet deeper after the Marion Conservation Commission voted after an August 23 public hearing to issue a Negative Box 3 Determination of Applicability to Deer Run Lot 5 LLC, for land clearing for a residential house lot at 5 Deer Run.
Project representative Matt Leone of Schneider, Davignon & Leone, Inc., summarized the activity at the site off Delano Road to consist of construction of a five-bedroom house with a septic system, tree clearing, site grading and utilities. The project, he said, had already been approved by the Board of Health and the Building Department.
Initially, explained Leone, all of the work was proposed outside the 100-foot buffer zone to bordering vegetated wetland, but the land falls within the priority habitat of rare species as mapped by Natural Heritage and the Endangered Species Program.
Leone said an application was filed with the state Division of Marine Fisheries and has received a determination that the project as presented to the Conservation Commission will not result in a prohibited take of wildlife on DMF’s list.
With that, Leone told the commissioners that the property owner wishes to extend tree clearing 50 feet closer to the limits of the bordering vegetated wetland, ensuring a 50-foot no-touch zone. The plan is to stabilize the area with seeding and siltation fencing.
Commissioner Shaun Walsh asked Leone if the wetlands border had been vetted by the commission, to which Leone noted that Brad Holmes had established the line but not since Schneider, Davignon & Leone, Inc. has represented the applicant, the commission has not vetted the wetlands flagging.
Construction at the site has been ongoing for some time, said Leone, and in this case, the owner is looking to expand his backyard.
Walsh said that since the initial filing did not propose activity within the buffer zone, the matter never came before the Conservation Commission. Now, he said, the commissioners have to decide on the wetlands line.
While convinced by the line as established, Conservation Commission Chairman Jeff Doubrava said one thing he would like to see is a visual demarcation of the 50-foot line where the limit of current and future work will be established. Walsh concurred, suggesting stakes, markers or boulders.
Leone said he has a complete survey of the lot and can share his information.
Commissioner Matt Schultz sought more information on the cellar drain; Leone said it was an optional, gravity-fed drainage system to remove groundwater from the area around the foundation.
In keeping with his recommendation, Doubrava would include in his motion to approve conditions requiring permanent boulders or some other permanent markers in consultation with Conservation Agent Doug Guey-Lee be placed to mark the limit of activity, along with siltation fencing that would not be removed until vegetation has been reestablished.
After a prior public hearing, the commission voted to approve an Abbreviated Notice of Resource Area Delineation submitted by Paul Downey, Sippican Holdings, LLC, 13 Barnabus Road.
“I didn’t see anything that said to me that it was anything other than a reasonable estimation of where the line sits,” said Doubrava, making sure to clarify the commission’s vote was only to approve the line as it was drawn from Luce Avenue up to the bike path. He noted that another area of the property to the north and east would require a separate determination in the future.
Steve Gioisa, the applicant’s representative, told the commission he purposefully omitted that other parcel off the ANRAD filing presently being considered.
In motioning a decision, Walsh said no added verbiage to the decision is necessary.
Guey-Lee considered the addition of a trench to be a significant deviation from the site plan, but the commission voted to issue Bruce Pawelczyk a complete Certificate of Compliance for a house reconstruction at 50 West Avenue.
The commission also issued a complete Certificate of Compliance to JCV Investments, LLC, for installation of a grinder pump and force main 534D Point Road.
In answer to request for comments to the Zoning Board of Appeals regarding the application of Elizabeth and Christopher Karvonen at 56 East Avenue, Doubrava said the beginning of the site is in the flood zone and that a filing with the ConCom is necessary.
Per site-plan review, the Planning Board requested comment from ConCom on the Town of Marion’s new harbormaster construction planned for 1 Island Wharf. There has been no change, so the commission’s prior approval stands.
Guey-Lee suspects that some part of the project anticipated by Papa’s Real Estate, LLC, at 0 Luce Avenue is in the buffer zone, so the commission plans to tell the Planning Board that a filing with the ConCom is required.
The case of the drain that the commission requested a redesign from William Weber Jr. at 21 East Avenue will be addressed now that Weber has filed a RDA for a revision to the structure to be heard on September 13.
The next meeting of the Marion Conservation Commission is scheduled for Wednesday, September 13, at 7:00 pm at the Police Station.
Marion Conservation Commission
By Mick Colageo