John and Pamela Lees will finally build their house at 49 Water Street after the Marion Conservation Commission voted to grant an Amended Order of Conditions (SE 041-1372) for proposed project modifications resulting in a reduction in the scope of work.
Appearing before the commission on November 1, project representative Dave Davignon of Schneider, Davignon & Leone, Inc. summarized the history of the case, saying the Order of Conditions was approved on August 2, 2022, then appealed by abutters to the state Department of Environmental Protection, which stayed the appeal after all the participants agreed on a revised size of the house.
The house, previously planned at 190 feet long, will now be constructed at 145 feet long, a reduction of 23.5% in length, nearly doubling the side setbacks to 59 and 51 feet from property lines to the north and south. With an increase in size front to back to accommodate the floor layout, the footprint of the house has been reduced a net 13.5%.
The in-ground pool has been reduced by 6.25%, and the previous driveway has been reduced by 11.6%.
Under the old plan, 0.7 acres of runoff were headed toward the harbor and 0.21 acres were headed toward the street. Under the revised plan, there is a 46% reduction in runoff headed toward the water. There are no changes to what was permitted regarding the seawall.
Conservation Agent Doug Guey-Lee asked Davignon to comment on the temporary disturbance of laying down plywood to work on the masonry of the seawall.
Commission Chairman Jeff Doubrava said the Order of Conditions will expire on August 2, 2025, per the original order as approved by the commission.
Under Action Items, engineer Rick Charon appeared on behalf of Laurence Reinhart (East Avenue Trust) who requested a Certificate of Compliance at 17 East Avenue.
Doubrava reiterated his comment from the commission’s last meeting in which he said, since he has served, the ConCom has not permitted vertical structures in the velocity zone.
Charon proposed smoothing the side of the retaining wall causing the problem and sloping it in keeping with the commission’s requirement.
The other deviations from the proposed plan itemized by Charon were not problematic for the commission, but he asked for the commission to put a hold on the matter while he discusses the recommended solution with the applicant.
Walsh said the other retaining wall also needs to be altered to conform to the town’s requirements. He said that had Reinhart come before the current set of commissioners with the plan as built, it would not have been permitted.
Commissioner Matt Schultz said raising the soil would be preferable to a structural alternation.
Conservation Agent Doug Guey-Lee confirmed with Charon on the record that the request for a Certificate of Compliance be withdrawn and a Request for Determination of Applicability be subsequently filed with the recommended changes to the retaining walls on the property.
In other public hearings, Elizabeth Luther was issued an Order of Conditions to reconstruct an existing stone groin within the existing, licensed footprint at 28 West Avenue.
Commissioner Matt Schultz’s motion addressed land containing shellfish, fisheries and storm-damage prevention, and Shaun Walsh requested that 310CMR 10.274B be added to ensure sand is added so as to avoid starving the vulnerable side of the reconstructed groin.
A busy man on November 1 with several projects to represent, Davignon explained that the stone groin is slumping and its 30-year license is due to expire. The proposal is to work back from the end of the jetty, deconstruct and rebuild the groin in its original form.
With a coastal beach and coastal bank, Davignon said a rip-rap seawall is in pretty good shape and noted that the Division of Marine Fisheries had no comment. The work will be done in the spring. Davignon anticipates the project taking no more than two weeks to complete.
Citing the probability that the groin will be reconstructed tighter than originally done, Walsh asked Davignon if he plans to bring in some additional sand to be up to the required performance of coastal beach. Walsh recalled a case (not in Marion) that adversely affected the downdrift side of the groin and resulted in a lawsuit against the property owner who rebuilt his groin. He suggested the applicant fill the area with sand.
The West Drive Association was issued a Negative Box 2 and 3 Determination of Applicability, allowing its members to install a 3,300-foot, private sewer pipe to connect 10 existing, single-family dwellings to the municipal sewer system on West Drive and North Drive. The decision was conditioned with erosion-control measures.
The project will feature trenching for installation of the sewer pipe and installation of sewer manholes along the way. Some of the land is subject to coastal-storm flowage, according to Davignon, the project representative who explained that wetland flags planted by LEC Environmental helped create the wetland line to determine the buffer zone.
Dr. John Howard and Katherine Howard were voted a Negative Box 1 Determination of Applicability to achieve the finding that the stream located across the street is intermittent and their proposed addition is therefore not within jurisdiction. The stream connects a couple of cranberry bogs.
Davignon, the Howards’ representative, said that while it was once considered a perennial stream, “it’s not anymore.” Having visited the site, Chairman Jeff Doubrava said that if it was a perennial stream, it was a long time ago.
In other action items, the commission granted Dale and Laura Briggs a two-year extension permit at 23 Dexter Road.
The commission discussed a request from the Planning Board for comment on the application of Sandra Peterson at 35 Dexter Road. The ConCom issued an Order of Conditions already.
The commission discussed a request from the Zoning Board of Appeals for comment on the application of Eric Winer and Nancy Borstelmann at 18 West Avenue. ConCom: the entire site is jurisdictional and will be before the commission this month.
Finally, Harbormaster Adam Murphy was asked to comment on complaints received by the town about an unpermitted float system at Saltworks, 288 Wareham Road. Guey-Lee said the only permit on record was from 2020 for construction of a boat-storage shelter.
Murphy said he reached out to the owner, Dan Crete, regarding complaints that he was hauling large vessels across the shellfish beds. Murphy reported that Crete told him the boat ramp at the site had been long permitted. Crete reportedly said the float would come out.
Commissioner Emil Assing suggested a site visit to determine what impacts may have been made, triggering an enforcement action. Murphy suggested it’s the commission’s mission to educate Crete as to the process for compliance without creating a bigger problem. Doubrava suggested Guey-Lee inspect the site and report back to the commission and check for a ramp license.
The next meeting of the Marion Conservation Commission was scheduled for Wednesday, November 15, at 7:00 pm.
Marion Conservation Commission
By Mick Colageo