The Rochester Conservation Commission on Tuesday cast doubts over a plan to build 12 single-family house lots on 12 acres at Mary’s Pond Road and Pierce Mill Road.
Appearing on Zoom, the developer’s representative, Brandon Barr of Merrill Engineers and Land Surveyors, held an informal discussion with the commission to get its preliminary thoughts on the plan, which includes filling in the cranberry bogs currently there. Barr said his firm’s research into past maps of the area indicate these bogs are man-made. A 1912 map reveals the area originally consisted of a lot of muck and coarse sand; it is not the site of natural wetlands. Barr’s associate Dave Portland added these maps match up with the location of the existing bogs.
Commission members responded that they want more information before agreeing to such a plan. Chair Christopher Gerrior said he wanted to know when these bogs were developed. “How long have they been bogs?” he asked. Gerrior wondered aloud why people avoided building a house there when the land was in that condition.
“I don’t believe they were ever uplands,” commission member Bill Milka said. “I want to see more studies and data to make sure what it is,” commission member Jerelle Jesse added.
“We need more information,” Gerrior concluded. “You have to prove why you can develop here before you come back to us.”
Barr and Portland agreed to do that just that, to gather more data proving the area’s soil conditions and the age of its bogs before returning with a formal proposal.
In response to another applicant’s request, the commission continued to its next meeting a Notice of Intent public hearing on the construction of a single-family home within the 200-foot riparian zone at 0 Robinson Road.
The Rochester Conservation Commission canceled its regularly scheduled December 16 meeting and set its next meeting for January 6, 2026, at 7:00 pm in Town Hall, 1 Constitution Way.
Rochester Conservation Commission
By Michael J. DeCicco