The Marion Conservation Commission met on Wednesday, August 12, at 7:00 pm for five hearings with local business owners and private citizens seeking to modify properties near wetlands.
The majority of the hearings related to Requests for Determinations of Applicability (RDA), which find whether a site near a wetland is subject to regulation under the State’s Wetlands Protection Act and, by extension, the conservation commission’s jurisdiction. When developments under said jurisdiction would alter a protected resource area, the applicant must submit a Notice of Intent before proceeding.
In preparation for Uncle Jon’s Coffee relocation to 413 Wareham Street — the former Cumberland Farms — an RDA was sent for the “addition to the commercial building, reconfiguring of the paved parking lot, and installation of a rain garden partially within the 100-foot buffer zone.”
It was agreed that, because the wetlands were on the opposite side of a paved road, it would likely not be impacted by the property developments. The motion to progress without committee guidance passed unanimously.
The Marion Harbor East Trust, owners of the Marion Golf Club, submitted an RDA for confirmation that an “Isolated Vegetated Wetland area” of approximately 3,700 feet on the golf club’s property was not under the jurisdiction of the Wetlands Protection Act or the Conservation Commission. Following a site visit by the committee on Saturday, August 8, it was unanimously agreed that the site was not protected.
Creative Property Associates Realty submitted an RDA at 160 Allens Point Road for a new patio and expanded porch, which passed nearly unanimously. A Notice of Intent was also submitted by Jack and Jill Realty Trust at 14 West Drive for a lawn erosion mitigation plan, which passed unanimously. The commission also confirmed the quality of the residence at 57 Dexter Road with one nay from committee member Alex Maxwell.
A request for approval from Christina Galarza for “Localized land maintenance and safety manicuring” to make room for a mental health retreat with temporary tents on her property at 0 Hastings Road was tabled for Wednesday, August 26, due to insufficient information on the application.
Marion Conservation Commission
By Zakary Sarkarati