Bay Watch Realty Trust will not consider how its proposed affordable housing project off Route 105 will impact a nearby deer crossing, the developer told the Marion Conservation Commission at its January 25 hearing.
“Loss of wildlife habitat isn’t a consideration in the Wetlands Protection Act, so we are not addressing that issue,” said Sean Hale, of Epsilon Associates, representing Bay Watch.
The commission asked the developer about the long-standing, centuries-old wildlife crossing from the Washburn Park area to the woods across Front Street and through the proposed project. The path meanders into Mattapoisett, coming out near the Mahoney’s Building Supply and beyond.
The question remained unanswered at the hearing, at which the developer was requesting approval of a Notice of Intent to construct its 40B complex with associated parking, utility connections and storm water infrastructure.
The Bay Watch Realty Trust representatives were responding to a peer review letter regarding the revised proposal. The committee and the applicant’s representatives addressed an array of issues regarding a large vernal pool area and wetlands within the proposed project – but decided to continue the hearing until February 8 at 7:30 pm to review additional information.
In other business, the commission reviewed and approved a plan revision of the proposed Job’s Cove Pier Project.
Engineer Dave Davignon of N. Douglas Schneider Associates presented the revised plans to the commission for a four-foot wide 303-foot pier that will cross the salt marsh in Job’s Cove, with four pilings and two anchors in total.
Mr. Davignon was asking for a new Order of Conditions which would approve the submitted site plan, waterway plan and the eight boat-slips, which included approval for a 17-foot whaler or under size boat maximum for the slips.
The original Notice of Intent, filed by Copper Medal LLC requested permission to remove an existing solid-filled pier and construct a 380-foot long, pile-supported, T-shaped association pier in Job’s Cove with four gangways and four floats. It would serve eight homes (boats), consisting of four existing homes and four future single-family homes.
The association consists of eight lots, of which three are vacant and for sale. Of the eight lots, four have existing homes and one was recently purchased and will be built upon this spring.
Mr. Davignon said that he was seeking an approval from the Marion Conservation Commission so that he could submit the approved plan to the remaining agencies, including the MA Department of Fisheries, Army Corps of Engineers, National Heritage for Endangered Species and Coastal Zone Management Agency.
In other business:
• The board approved a Request for Determination with a negative determination for Jerry and Cynthia Pyle of 37 Piney Point Road to upgrade their sewage disposal systems at their home. The five-bedroom home currently has two leaching pits and two septic systems, which the applicant requested to combine into one, with both tanks entering one pump chamber.
•The board endorsed a Notice of Intent by Solo Realty to upgrade its sewage disposal system. The commission approved the upgrade to the septic system, with the condition that a site visit would occur in early spring of 2012 to assess the condition of a vernal pool on the property.
• The board approved an upgrade to the sewage disposal system for Tom Ireland of 77 County Road.
• The board reviewed and granted a third year extension permit for adding up to 20 cubic yards of beach sand above the high-water line to the Piney Point Beach Club. The board agreed that the area didn’t need the action but that they wanted to extend the permit, as an option to act immediately, in the aftermath of a storm.
• The board agreed to provide feedback, in lieu of appearing at a meeting of the Marion Affordable Housing Trust, at their meeting at 7:00 pm on Monday, February 13, 2012 at the Police Station regarding the Habitat for Humanity housing project.
By Joan Hartnett-Barry