What started out as a seemingly innocuous Request for Determination of Applicability filed by Ian Brady, 1 Mattakiset Road, became a debate lasting nearly an hour. The application was for a proposed two-story garage. The applicants were represented by the contractor Steve Brodo, who also acts as a part-time building inspector for the town.
Brodo described the proposed project is a garage-like structure that will be used to store small sailboats and other watercraft, not cars, with the second story to be an office space served by a bathroom. Brodo said his clients want to have the flexibility to continue working while summering in Mattapoisett.
There were questions about stormwater management and abutter concerns that any fill used might cause water to migrate to neighboring properties. Brodo explained that he would be leveling the site by removing soils, not adding soils.
The plans submitted by Brodo failed to answer questions by the commissioners, given that it was a land survey, not an engineered plan with structural details. Furthermore, since the application was filed as a RDA versus a Notice of Intent (a permit granting the commission greater oversight), the commission would be unable to apply conditions to the construction that aided in upholding performance standards.
Brodo contended that during a site visit in which commissioners David Lawrence and David Nicolosi attended, he was never told a Notice of Intent was necessary, leading him to believe all was well with the application.
Chairman Mike King expressed concern that Brodo had received a building permit before clearing the proposed project through the conservation process.
“In my fourteen years on the commission, no one has ever received a building permit before coming to Conservation,” said King, who intended to confirm whether or not a building permit can be issued before clearing a project through the Wetlands Protection Act.
When the commission voted on the RDA application, the members were split evenly both for and against. Brodo was told he could come back on an evening when the commission had an odd number of members in attendance or file a NOI complete with engineered drawings.
The commission also met with Mike Huguenin of the Mattapoisett Land Trust and Sara Quintal of the Buzzards Bay Coalition to follow up on the Enforcement Order recently issued to them for flooding and stormwater-drainage problems at the retired bog area simply known as The Bogs.
King lauded the BBC and its contractors for the repair work since the flooding incident but also called for a vote on whether or not the BBC should be required to test soils for agricultural chemicals.
The commissioners were firm in their belief that testing should be done and as King put it, give the public information they were asking for. It was the commission’s duty. The commissioners voted to have testing done but to send a letter to the Select Board expressing their position in this matter and asking the board to intercede.
In other business, applications for RDA’s received negative decisions for residents Kristine Murray, 12 Angelica Avenue, for a deck extension, and Michael Amaral, 3 Harbor Road, for a driveway expansion.
NOI’s filed by Dart Holdings LLC, 12-14 Fairhaven Road, for a septic upgrade, and Robert and Lisa Barbozak, 5 and 7 Shore View Avenue, for a new single-family home, were conditioned.
A NOI filed by Derek and Kylene Gregoire for a single-family home on Goodspeed Island was continued pending notification from the Sewer Department that a connection is available. Barring that, the application will continue review on March 11.
The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Conservation Commission is scheduled for Monday, March 11, at 6:30 pm.
Mattapoisett Conservation Commission
By Marilou Newell