MASHPEE CONSERVATION COMMISSION
Minutes of June 8, 2006
Public Hearings
Mashpee Town Hall Meeting Room 1
Commissioners present: Jack Fitzsimmons, Chairman, Michael Talbot, Vice Chairman, Len Pinaud, Clerk, Lloyd Allen, Cass Costa, Ralph Shaw, Jeffrey Cross and John Rogers.
Staff present: Steve Solbo, Agent, Drew McManus, Assistant Agent, and Frances Wise, Board Secretary
Jack Fitzsimmons, Chairman, called the meeting to order at 6:55 p.m.
Public Comment: None.
Non-Hearing Agenda
Old Business: None.
New Business:
1. RFAA SE 43-2347, 16 Dennis Hollow Road. Drew said the house doesn’t have any gutter systems and this request is for some dry wells. He recommended approval.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve the administrative approval request for SE 43-2347.
2. RFAA SE 43-2219, 65 Hoophole Road. Drew said this request is to install 500 sq. ft. of grass on the south side of the property using a grass seed mix as per Conservation guidelines. He recommended approval.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve the administrative approval request for SE 43-2219.
3. RFAA SE 43-2414, 132 Shore Drive West. Drew had photographs of the proposed walkway locations. Brad Holmes said they want the walkway for aesthetic reasons behind the gazebo so they can have an open view of the water. Steve said it really doesn’t matter where the walkway goes unless it’s over an animal den or the like. Jack said we didn’t care where it was, but we didn’t see any reason to put in the flagstones. Steve said it would cause more destruction if we forced them to do what we originally requested.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve the administrative approval request for SE 43-2414.
4. RFAA SE 43-2378, 419 Monomoscoy Road. Drew said this is a relocation of six fender pilings to an existing dock. Steve said the way they are drawn in they are too close, so the applicant wants to spread them out so she can have one for a bow line, one for stern line and one for a head line.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve the administrative approval request for SE 43-2378.
5. New Seabury Sea Quarters Condominium (DEP file # 05-3). Drew said we had requested a three-year vegetation maintenance plan to remedy a truncated section of a retaining wall. Steve has left a call for Brian Casey, and he recommended to the members that instead of doing a three-year plan, we ask for monitoring for the life of the order. Michael said the reason for the management plan is not so much to see how it’s doing, but to have a plan to help the seeded warm season meadow establish itself. This does take work – you have to prevent extensive shading and weed out invasive species. Warm season grass in particular is hard to establish.
He said if they don’t want to focus on a three-year management plan, they might suggest as an option a one-year management.
6. Approval of minutes for 4/27/06 and 5/11/06.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve the minutes for 4/27/06 and 5/11/06.
7. Term appointment re-up. Jack said he sent his by email, and John Miller has to apply.
8. Coastal bank regulation. Michael said he and Steve are going to be moving forward on this.
Hearing Agenda
7:00 p.m., Robert Stow, 25 Monomoscoy Road West (continued from 5/11/06). John Slavinsky represented the applicant. Steve said this NOI is for a proposed pier walkway ramp or stairs down to a platform which goes beyond mean high water. It is located within the ACEC which in this case is a wetland. Mr. Slavinsky said he received a call from Lisa Berry Engler, Department of Conservation Recreation, ACEC, Boston, requesting a copy of the Notice of Intent and the plan. He sent this to her on April 18th and has not heard from her since. Whenever he has dealt with a state or municipal agency, there has been a time limit for them to reply, and usually if he hasn’t heard from them at the end of that time limit, it means that they have no comment. Apparently we talked to
somebody at Waterways licensing about it being difficult if not impossible to obtain a license for a section of this pier that runs from the mean high water mark down to the mean low water mark. He said about 36 ft. would be beyond the mean high water, and he can certainly entertain cutting it off. There is actually a sandy beach in that area, and the owner and his guests are going to go to that beach by walking there. He showed photos of a neighboring property where the owners walk across the marsh to get down to the water in the same type of environment as the Stowe property. From an environmental standpoint, it seems to him that the marsh would be in better condition with the walkway across it, and there is no way to stop people from traversing across the marsh.
Steve said he talked to Chapter 91 today, and there is zero percent chance that they would issue a permit for anything below mean high water. Therefore, as proposed now, there is no way that this project meets the performance standards. Regulation 14 of the Mashpee By-laws adopted on 2/16/06 says there must not be any adverse effect whether it’s “cumulative, short term, or critical characteristics.” Basically, critical characteristics go back to a determination that was made in 1979 by John Buick, Secretary of Environmental Affairs at that time. Steve also talked to ACEC and they would not want a structure below the salt marsh, where the ACEC line is in this case. Simply put, this NOI which was filed in March ’06 doesn’t meet the performance standards of the State
regulations and Mashpee’s Regulation 14 adopted in February ’06.
Mr. Slavinsky said he sent the plan to ACEC and they never sent him any comments. He said they didn’t change the definition of the ACEC line, they changed the map, which now shows more detail than the previous one.
Steve said if Mr. Slavinsky draws back 36 ft.from the mean high water, that takes Chapter 91 out of the equation. His understanding is even if this project makes it through us, they will have to go through another whole process where all the other agencies will get involved in it.
Mr. Slavinsky said he had another case where water was on both sides of the bulkhead, and the determination was to cut some holes in the bulkhead. They had said it was going to be an impossibility.
Steve said as proposed right now, the project is not approvable. He would feel hard pressed for this commission to deny the project because he thinks DEP would be inclined to issue a superseding order and kick it up to MEPA to address. People have been walking through salt marshes for hundreds of years, but now the regulations say that nothing is to be done in this area.
Kathryn Wood, an abutter, expressed concern that Mr. Stow has two ski doos and a large boat that he might tie to the walkway. Steve said we would not allow that, and he was sure that Perry Ellis would not allow it. Albert Laughton, another abutter, said Mr. Stow now has a boat on his marsh which is secured to his [Mr. Laughton’s] property line mark. Steve said he will go to the site the following day to take photos and issue an enforcement order.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to grant a continuance to June 22nd at 7:05 p.m., at the request of the applicant.
7:05 p.m., John and Maria Rousou, 90 Summersea Road (demolish and rebuild new single family home with associated appurtenances). Jack Vaccaro and Jennifer Malila represented the applicant. Mr. Vaccaro described the project. Steve said this lot is tight and we will have to watch the silt fences and hay bale lines very closely to make sure they are constantly maintained and there are not any erosion problems. He suggested a double hay bale line. Other than that, it meets the performance standards in that they have given as much mitigation as we need to meet the numbers for the mitigation requirement, so he recommended approval. Ms. Malila described the plant selection, which Steve strongly approved.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve this NOI.
7:10 p.m., Francis Reavey, 42 Cayuga Avenue (construct, license, and maintain in perpetuity a seasonal dock). Drew read a letter from the applicant requesting a continuation to allow time for Natural Heritage to give their comments.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to grant a continuance to July 6th at 7 p.m., at the request of the applicant
7:15 p.m. David Bazerman, 50 Cayuga Avenue (continued from 5/25/06). Brian Casey represented the applicant. Steve said Natural Heritage’s comments have not been received.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to grant a continuance to June 22nd at 7:10 p.m., at the request of the applicant
7:20 p.m., Robert Pace, 26 Little Neck Lane (demolish and rebuild new single family home with associated appurtenances). Jack Vacarro represented the applicant and described the plan.
A portion of the deck protrudes into the buffer zone. Michael said typically in a situation like this we’ve asked that the structure be moved back, which would mean eliminating some of the deck. Mr. Vacarro will consult with his client on the size of the deck and also prepare a mitigation plan.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to grant a continuance to June 22nd at 7:15 p.m., at the request of the applicant
7:25 p.m., Jim Lathem, 28 Jeep Place (demolish and rebuild a 13’ x 23’ cabana). Doug Mullen represented the applicant and described the plan. Steve recommended approval.
Motion made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve this RDA.
Meeting adjourned at 8:05 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Frances Wise, Board Secretary
| 
