On May 1, after years of appeals and one last review of relevant documents, the owners of the planned Kings Highway bituminous plant received an extension to an expired Order of Conditions from the Rochester Conservation Commission.
The proposed project is planned for a five-acre site on Kings Highway with the regulated area being construction of infiltration basins within the 100-foot buffer zone.
Coming before the commission, hopefully for one last time, in continuance for a Request for Extension Permit was Stephen Meltzer of Edgewood Development Company of Plainville, MA, who said the original Order of Conditions expired on March 22. Now with the completion of the appeals process, he believed the Order of Conditions originally issued in 2011 by the Conservation Commission was eligible for the three-year extension request.
Meltzer said that a thorough review of the Massachusetts Conservation Commission Association handbook supported his contention that the Order of Conditions could be upheld because site conditions had not changed, no work had begun, and that a lengthy appeals process had made forward movement on the project impossible.
“We have a good Order of Conditions. There is no need to redo things only to end up in the same place,” Meltzer told the commission.
However, in spite of the commission signaling their satisfaction with Meltzer’s request by asking no questions of significance, a group of residents represented by Attorney Ben O’Grady continued to maintain that the project needed a new Notice of Intent and all that it entailed.
O’Grady argued, as he had on previous occasions, that given the years since the Order of Conditions was issued, the petitioners needed to start at square one.
“The Order of Conditions was issued in 2011… Something of this magnitude deserves review.” He said that given that undisturbed woods would become an industrial site, the project deserved another look. O’Grady also contented that the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act Office had not yet commented on the project, and thus the project should not receive an extension.
Meltzer countered, “They denied review on February 28,” indicating their review wasn’t necessary.
Chairman Michael Conway asked O’Grady, “Why are you here?” Conway said the matter had already been adjudicated and that nothing had changed. O’Grady responded that because of the development of other parcels along the roadway, stormwater runoff may have changed. But Conway fired back, “All you are doing is speculating.”
Rochester Conservation Agent Laurell Farinon spent some time reading from the MACC handbook and concluded that much of the material O’Grady was citing was part of the Wetlands Protection Act and that nothing applied to this case, as she put it.
Farinon also described some of the stipulations in the Order of Conditions, such as an annual groundwater monitoring report to evaluate the presence of heavy metals and other contaminants, and associated mitigation.
Of the Order of Conditions, she said, “Honestly, I don’t think we should change anything.”
A roll call vote initiated by Conway found the commission in favor of the three-year extension, with Commissioner Chris Post recusing herself from the vote.
Also coming before the commission was Clean Energy Collective for property owned by Michael Forand, 268 Mattapoisett Road, regarding construction of a large-scale solar farm.
A procedural error from the previous meeting allowed the hearing to be re-opened. Forand sought and received an amended Order of Conditions for minor site grading within the 100-foot buffer zone.
Closing out the public hearings on May 1 was a continued NOI filed by Robert and Nancy Barboza for property located off Alley Road for the construction of a single-family home. The continuation was needed so that wetlands flagging could be confirmed and adjustments made by Farinon in cooperation with Brian Grady of G.A.F. Engineering. The project received a positive Order of Conditions.
The next meeting of the Rochester Conservation Commission is scheduled for May 15 at 7:00 pm in the Town Hall meeting room.
Rochester Conservation Commission
By Marilou Newell