Marion Trust #1, Michael Craffey, is allowed to repair an existing seawall and remove invasive phragmites at 522 Point Road after the Marion Conservation Commission issued an Order of Conditions during its November 16 public meeting.

            “I appreciated all the description that Dave (Davignon) gave us, the methodology. Having seen the plans, I feel pretty good about it,” said commissioner Emil Assing in proposing conditions for approval. “I thought it was pretty good that they included some siltation fencing.”

            Assing proposed conditions addressing storm-damage protection, as well as habitat, flood control and protection of fisheries. He recommendation reinstalling erosion controls.

            Conservation Commission Chairman Jeff Doubrava called the plan “clear, defined and measurable.”

            Representing Craffey, David Davignon of Schneider, Davignon & Leone Inc. explained that the work to occur on the lot at 522A Point Road based on the NOI filed six months ago has been updated after the applicant engaged a firm to conduct a survey and form a plan.

            The applicant sought a three-year Order of Conditions.

            The survey, said Davignon, identified salt marsh to the east and west of the pier at Blankenship Cove, along with saltmarsh in multiple locations, a coastal bank and land under seawater.

            “The focus of the plan was maintenance of what he has for licensed structures along the shoreline,” Davignon told the commission. The stone seawall, he said, needs work on the north side of the pier, and the pier needs work on three sides.

            Davignon laid out a three-piece plan to permanently take care of the issue behind the seawall to the north. The plan proposed a trench and a 12-inch-thick concrete wall behind the seawall to be backfilled so as not to lose anymore soil through the seawall. That will involve excavating from the back of the seawall, which varies in height from 3.6 feet to 1.2 feet.

            Upon completion, the applicant plans to install an erosion-control barrier. Davignon said, based on a licensed plan from 1999, the area consisted of lawn, and the owner would like to restore it or use native plantings. An area of invasive plants will be used for a work site.

            In the last piece of the project, a chunk will be taken out of the southwest section of the pier. Some of its pieces have fallen into the cove. The method proposed would put granite blocks back in and mortar. Davignon said the pier seems to be solid except for that corner. The project will require a mini-excavator to clean out the corner where the seawall has come apart.

            The alternative, Davignon said, would be a barge to bring in and set two stones. Overall, the pier is not in a deteriorating situation.

            Qualifying his question as just a thought, Commissioner Shaun Walsh asked if the liner wall would cause any hydraulic pressure behind the wall and result in a washy area. Walsh suggested pipes. Davignon liked the idea but said it would require finding voids in the wall to slide in pipes.

            Davignon told Walsh leaving the stones in place would make sense for added protection. They agreed the stones would help against any wave action.

            Having made a site visit and observed water behind the wall, Assing asked if the wall construction will need more than one day during low tide. Davignon said it will happen “piecemeal” and take possibly up to five, low-tide day cycles.

            Davignon said the contractor, Steve Fielding, has a lot of experience repairing seawalls.

The grade will be returned to what is atop the seawall. Assing asked about the removal of vegetation.        Davignon said, “It’s out-of-control invasives,” and said an excavator would scrape the area.

No members of the community responded to the invitation to comment on the project, and the public hearing was closed.

            Jonathan and Jill Castle were voted an Amended Order of Conditions for the construction of additions to the existing residence along with the demolition of out-buildings and associated site work to include wings razed and rebuilt on new foundations at 406 Point Road.

            Representing the Castles, Rick Charon of Charon Associates said the project was originally approved in an extensive Order of Conditions in April, but he has since learned that there are structural problems with the existing foundation. The proposed solution atop a 100-foot buffer zone, coastal bank and flood zone is to tear down two-story wings measuring 290 square feet on one side and 330 square feet on the other.

            The replacement wings will be built upon new crawl spaces.

            A Request for Determination of Applicability filed by Peter and Laura Grauer for house reconstruction at 1 Allen Street was voted a Negative Box 2 determination.

            A glitch in abutter notification prompted the Marion Lands Trust LLC to request a continuance in its application for an Amended Order of Conditions for the proposed development of a residential lot behind 369/371 Wareham Street. The case was continued to December 14.

            Davignon made the commission aware that the applicant is continuing with a majority of previously permitted activity at the site, but he agreed to make the updated conditions clear to the commission in writing.

            The next meeting of the Marion Conservation Commission will be held on Wednesday, December 14, at 7:00 pm at the Police Station and also accessible live via Zoom.

Marion Conservation Commission

By Mick Colageo

            December 13 will be the decision date for several projects the Rochester Planning Board reviewed during a busy meeting on November 16.

            First, however, the board endorsed the Approval Not Required application for minor changes to 31 Clapp Road, which is owned by Conservation Commission member William Clapp.

            Clapp wishes to revise the lot-line design to add another lot and still leave the required 25 feet of frontage, said his technical consultant, Matt Leone of Schneider, Davignon & Leone, Inc.

            Planning Board member Ben Bailey made the motion, swiftly seconded by the other members, that the plan will not require site-plan review.

            Next, Bill Madden of G.A.F. Engineering presented revisions to Rockland Trust’s plan to build a 7×13-foot, drive-up/walk-up kiosk on an 8×19-foot concrete foundation in the Plumb Corner shopping center parking lot.

            Madden said the new plan relocates the kiosk to the westerly end of the landscaped island where the original plan placed it and reduces the work construction area.

            In October, board members and Friends Market manager Rob Ciardi complained the kiosk is being built nearly right in front of the store, and its location will be a big hindrance to customer parking and truck access to the rear of the store. The latter is a concern, Ciardi said, because of the way large delivery vehicles must enter the plaza.

            On November 16, Ciardi seemed satisfied by the changes. He asked when construction will start and how long will the trench that must be dug for utilities remain open. Madden said the trench will be there 30-60 days but will be covered by metal plates at night, and Rockland Trust hopes to begin construction in April or May.

            Zoning Board of Appeals Chairman David Arancio noted the ZBA has heard nothing about the kiosk’s signage that his board must review if it exceeds a certain height.

            In response to this, Planning Board Chairman Arnold Johnson said the Planning Board will include in the draft decision the condition that signage be no more than 9-feet tall. That decision will be written in time for the board’s December 13 meeting.

            The Planning Board next reviewed the plan for a canopy-mounted, large-scale, solar photo-voltaic system that will be built over the parking lot at the Rochester Memorial School. The project will require a special permit and site-plan-review approval.

            Jose Pacheco of Green Seal Environmental said two canopies, measuring 222-feet long by 438-feet wide and supported by seven columns, will be built on 13.7 acres in the school’s rear parking lot. All parking access and existing lighting and much of the existing landscaping will remain.

            Fellow project representative Robert Bowman said the solar canopy is constructed to withstand and repel excessive snow. He told the board that the lights under the canopy will be powered by the school’s electrical system.

            As it awaits further details and revisions of the plan design, the board continued this hearing until December 13.

            Next up, the board considered Connet Woods’ proposal to modify its definitive, flexible subdivision plan. The project developer wants to eliminate a subdivision road and convert/downgrade 10 approved lots to three lots at Connet Woods and Box Turtle Drive.

            Project representative Steve Meltzer said 105 units have been built at Connet Woods since the development was approved in 2007. The developer found a high water table where another road, McCombe Place, and more units were planned, meaning it would be too costly to bring in the fill that would be required to make the area buildable. He noted one of the advantages of this new plan is that there would be a 70-percent reduction in impervious surface.

            The only pushback against this plan at the hearing came from neighbors appearing in person and remotely via Zoom.

            Abutter Melissa Scanlon complained that when she moved to the area, she and her neighbors were told no more houses would be built on the wetland across from her. She said that preserving open space is what this town should be doing. She said she wanted this plan to be denied.

            Johnson explained the flexible-subdivision plan classification of this project in itself is preserving more open land. The developer has already been talked down from 600 housing units.

            Two other abutters, attending on Zoom, repeated Scanlon’s concerns, saying this project should be stopped with a denial of this plan.

            Johnson said the board would need a legally enforceable reason to deny the modification or the town would get sued. “Our rules govern our decisions,” he said, “not what’s popular.”

            Arancio, also a Box Turtle Drive resident, countered the complaints by noting, “This is the best outcome we could have wished for. To have three more (dwellings) instead of seven more.”

            As it seeks more information from a peer review of the modification plan, the board also continued this hearing to December 13.

            The Rochester Planning Board’s next meeting will be held on Tuesday, December 13, at 7:00 pm at Old Colony Regional Vocational-Technical High School, 476 North Avenue, Rochester.

Rochester Planning Board

By Michael J. DeCicco