For the second time, an overflow crowd prevented the Conservation Commission from hearing plans to replace seven rental houses on Mahoney’s Lane with seven larger single-family homes.
Eighty-seven people arrived at the Fire Station Conference Room for the September 14 meeting, while another 39 joined through Zoom. The hearing had been moved from Town Hall after attendance exceeded that room’s capacity on July 27.
The Fire Station room was also too small.
Commission Chair Michael King told the audience that enough people would have to leave to bring the room within its permitted capacity or the hearing would have to be postponed again. Audience members overwhelmingly favored moving it to another date and location.
“There’s clearly a very large community response to one particular issue, which I understand and can certainly appreciate,” King said.
Dennis Mahoney & Sons, Inc. filed a Notice of Intent to demolish the existing houses at 1–7 Mahoney’s Lane and construct seven single-family homes. The property is near salt marsh, Eel Pond and Mattapoisett Harbor.
Neighbors have raised concerns about the size and placement of the homes, flooding, proximity to protected wetlands and the effects of construction on the salt marsh.
“It’s a much larger discussion than just one lot with seven houses,” King said.
The commission voted to continue the hearing to a date and location to be determined. King said Mahoney’s Lane would likely receive a meeting of its own, without other applications on the agenda.
In other news, a continued hearing involving Byrne Avenue and Shell Beach Road produced much of the evening’s discussion.
Stephen Vaitses, an easement holder, is seeking approval to clear vegetation along a right-of-way leading to the beach. A revised plan showed a maximum 14-foot-wide access route, overhead tree trimming, property markers, and areas where kayaks, beach chairs and other equipment have historically been stored.
Commission members had not reviewed the revised plan before the meeting and continued the hearing until September 28.
King encouraged the neighbors to review the plan and attempt to find common ground. The discussion, however, quickly moved beyond vegetation clearing to disagreements over beach access, property rights and no-trespass notices.
Dennis Craig of 3 Byrne Avenue said he had been confronted while trying to use the beach with his family.
King said the commission would limit its decision to matters within its wetlands jurisdiction. Ownership and access disputes may need to be resolved elsewhere, including Land Court.
The commission unanimously adopted a townwide position that storing kayaks, dinghies, canoes, paddleboards and similar equipment along the shore is an allowable temporary disturbance. The statement does not decide whether a beach is public or private or who has the legal right to use it.
In another hearing, owners of 19 Shore View Avenue proposed placing stone along the base of an existing 115-foot seawall to reduce erosion.
Representative Rick Charon said the house and seawall predate the Wetlands Protection Act and argued that adding stone would break up wave energy and protect the wall. State agencies questioned how expanding the structure onto the coastal beach might affect shellfish habitat and public tidelands.
The hearing was continued to allow Charon to provide a written response.
The commission also reviewed plans to replace a house at 4 Pearl Street with a new home, detached garage, swimming pool and pool house. Neighbors questioned the height, drainage, number of structures and placement of the garage.
Representatives said the proposal includes one residence and that the garage was positioned to preserve a neighbor’s water view. The hearing was continued because the project had not received a state file number.
A wetland-boundary review for 0 and 31 Randall Road was continued while the commission awaits a revised plan comparing current conditions with an earlier state action involving fill on the property.
The commission issued negative determinations for septic-system replacements at 10 Old Mattapoisett Neck Road and 4 Heritage Lane. Conditions discussed included additional erosion controls, protection of a large spruce tree and permanent markers or fencing to separate a maintained yard from wetlands.
In other actions, the commission approved a Buzzards Bay Coalition project to restore former cranberry bogs at 7 Wolf Island Road. The work will remove a dam and water-control structures and restore the Mattapoisett River’s natural channel and floodplain. Most of the project is in Rochester, with a smaller portion in Mattapoisett.
The approval requires the project’s operations and maintenance plan, including trail maintenance and invasive-species management, to remain in effect permanently. Three years of monitoring are also planned.
The commission issued certificates of compliance for projects at 61 Long Plain Road, Angelica Avenue and 3 Harbor Road.
An enforcement matter at 87 Fairhaven Road remains in progress. An order was previously issued for 104 Angelica Avenue after mowing occurred within wetlands.
The commission’s next meetings are scheduled for September 28 and October 12. It will not meet on October 26 because its regular meeting space will be used for early voting.
Mattapoisett Conservation Commission
By Jeanne Hopkins