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HomeMy Public PortalAboutConsComm Min 2000-07-18Minutes — Orleans Conservation Commission Town Hall Hearing, Tuesday, July 18, 2000 PRESENT: Bob Ward, Chairman; George Christie, Arnold Henson, Bill Parisi -1'r and Judy Scanlon, voting Commissioners; and Jenny Wood, Conservation Administrator. Andree Yager, Vice Chairman, joined the meeting at 8:25 a.m., ?_ Jim Snedecor, voting Commissioner, joined the meeting at 8:35 a.m. and Don Tomlin, non -voting Commissioner joined the meeting at 8:40 a.m. ABSENT: Adrienne Pfluger. The meeting opened at 8:02 a.m. PUBLIC HEARING Management Plan Draft for Christian Property, 80 Portanimicut Road -- The Chairman read the legal notice and explained that the hearing was to review draft management plans and receive public comment regarding the future management of the land by the Town and the Conservation Commission. The Chairman opened the hearing to public comment. Allen Gibbs, Chairman of the Open Space/Land Bank Committee, asked about the possibility of constructing a boardwalk around the white cedar swamp. Bob Ward said that the boardwalk could not go around the swamp because of private property and to build in the swamp would compromise the natural features of the swamp. The Conservation Commission was promoting the construction of a boardwalk across the narrowest area of the swamp with a walking trail loop on OCT property. Ail access and parking would be via the Town -owned Christian property. Vince 011ivier of the Orleans Conservation Trust (OCT) said that the OCT was meeting on July 18th to discuss and review the concept. Bob Ward said that the Commission is working on a grant proposal for state help funding the project and the Commissioners would be reviewing the grant proposal at their July 25th meeting. Paul Fulcher, the Park Superintendent, asked how the proposed trails and boardwalk would be maintained. Bob Ward said that the issue of maintenance of Conservation - managed properties hasn't been fully addressed and needs to be worked out. George Christie said that funds are also available from Barnstable County for similar projects and he will let the Commission know the amount of funds available for trail projects that are suitable for regional usage. ADMINISTRATOR'S BUSINESS Stephanie Milliken, Request for Use of Windmill Park MOTION: A motion to approve the request for use of the Windmill Park for a wedding on July 29, 2000 was made by George Christie and seconded by Arnold Henson. VOTE: Unanimous CHAIRMAN'S BUSINESS Approval of Minutes of July 11, 2000 Work Meeting MOTION: A motion to approve the minutes of the July 11, 2000 work meeting was made by Arnold Henson and seconded by Judy Scanlon. VOTE: Unanimous 1 Minutes Hearing Tuesday, July 18, 2000 ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW Elizabeth Davis, 53 Freeman Lane -- Request to improve the vista from Freeman's Lane across from property owned by Nancy K. Durie, 64 Freeman Lane. No large trees will be cut. Pruning will favor the growth of the native vegetation. Work includes: cutting back native shrubs, roses and viburnum at the top of the bank to 3-5'; cutting back non-native honeysuckle to less than 3'; removal of bittersweet and poison ivy; and the topping of 4 small trees, pears and chokecherries by several feet. MOTION: On a motion by Bill Parish and seconded by Judy Scanlon, the Commission approved the above project. VOTE: Unanimous CHAIRMAN'S BUSINESS -- Continued Letter from Local Comprehensive Plan Committee — Bob Ward advised that the LCPC needed input from the Commission about adopting the Cape Cod Commission's minimum performance standards and he suggested appointing a subcommittee to review the LCPC's recent letter. George Christie said he would chair the subcommittee as long as there was no conflict of interest since he is the Town's representative to the County Assembly. He will check with Town Counsel on this. PUBLIC HEARING -- Continued Management Plan Draft for Crystal Lake Beach, 120 Monument Road -- The Chairman opened the hearing to public comment. Sue Sargent of 35 Crystal Lake Drive read into the record a petition, addressed to the Board of Selectmen in September of 1996, citing concerns about: lack of sanitary facilities; increased noise; trespassing on private property; litter on the beach; increased parking on private property and side roads; and safety issues due to speeding vehicles on Monument Road. Bob Ward asked her if she had any suggestions about what could be done and she suggested: keeping the number of parking spaces as is; posting "No Parking" signs on all side roads; enforcement of the no parking regulations; and adding sanitary facilities. Joe McOsker said that he is concerned about the volume of people using the beach (up to 200 a day), trespassing on private property and liability issues, and speeding on Monument Road. Judy Scanlon said that some Monument Road residents had recently met with Police Chief Stone and had been assured that there would be more cruisers and radar monitoring of the road and an assessment done by year-end. Irene Wright said that she had attended the meeting and the group had requested that a "Road Controlled by Radar" sign be posted. Bill Stowell said that there seems to be enough focus on the problems to bring pressure on the Selectmen and the Police Department to take some action. Paul Fulcher, the Park Superintendent, said that any portable sanitary facilities put on the property would need to be handicapped -accessible and would require separate facilities for males and females. Each facility would be approximately 8' x 8'. He also said that the management plan did not address the issue of road runoff from Monument Road and catch basins needed to be installed on either side of the road. Vince 011ivier of the OCT said that the property was extremely overburdened and suggested that a time limit of 2 hours be imposed on usage of the parking spaces. Arnold 2 Minutes Hearing Tuesday, July 18, 2000 Henson asked the audience if they had experienced similar problems at the Town Landing on the other end of the lake, but the residents said there had only been some minor parking problems with boat trailers. The Chairman thanked the audience for their input. MOTION: A motion to close both hearings to the taking of public comment was made by Arnold Henson and seconded by George Christie. VOTE: Unanimous NOTICES OF INTENT Leo Swift, 26 Country Crossing -- by Ryder & Wilcox, Inc. Assessor's Map 36, Parcel 71. Removal of an existing deck and porch and construction of new decks, a sunroom and an addition to an existing single family dwelling within 100' of the top of an inland bank in accordance with plans on file. Terry Ryder of Ryder & Wilcox presented the project to the Commission. He said that this property had been before the Commission previously for a septic system and the hand -dug ditch on the southern boundary of the property was an intermittent stream with water flowing through to a perched wetland. The grade in the area of the proposed work within the 50' buffer does not slope toward the ditch. The proposal involves removing the existing deck and porch and building a new addition on the north side of the existing dwelling and a sunroom/porch and 2 decks on the west side of the dwelling. The area is currently a lawn/yard area. Arnold Henson asked whether there was another alternative for the deck location or if the proposed deck on the southwest side could be eliminated. He also said he was concerned that there was no vegetated buffer beside the edge of the ditch and one of the proposed decks is only 28' from the edge of the wetland. Terry Ryder then read the variance request into the record. Bob Ward asked if the proposed deck on the northwest side could be moved back 3' outside the 50' buffer or if it could be angled off. Terry said he could look at redesigning the decks and the buffer planting. He requested a continuation until July 25th. MOTION: A motion to approve a continuation of the above project until July 25, 2000 was made by Arnold Henson and seconded by Bill Parish. VOTE: Unanimous Gregg and Deborah Goldsmith, 307 Tonset Road, Elderberry Unit -- by Ryder & Wilcox, Inc. Assessor's Map 12, Parcel 46-4. Removal of an existing house and foundation and construction of a 2 -story house on a new full founda- tion within the existing footprint within 100' of bordering vegetated wetlands in accordance with plans on file. Stephanie Sequin of Ryder & Wilcox and Mr. Goldsmith were in attendance. Stephanie presented the project to the Commission and explained that the Goldsmiths had recently purchased this building, which is in very bad condition. They are requesting removal of the existing building and its foundation and building of a new 2 -story dwelling on a new foundation. The proposed work is 77' from the wetlands, the limit of work will be 50' from the wetlands and the disturbed area will be revegetated after construction. The septic system will be upgraded (along with the other units on the property). Arnold Henson said that the Commission's approval needs to be subject to approval of the proposed septic upgrade on the property. 3 Minutes Hearing Tuesday, July 18, 2000 MOTION: A motion to close the hearing to the taking of testimony was made by Arnold Henson and seconded by George Christie. VOTE: Unanimous MOTION: A motion to approve the above project, subject to approval of the proposed septic upgrade on the entire property and subject to Board of Health approval, was made by George Christie and seconded by Bill Parish. VOTE: Unanimous AMENDED ORDER OF CONDITIONS Weeset Cedars Condominium Property, 307 Tonset Road -- by Ryder & Wilcox, Inc. Assessor's Map 12, Parcel 46. Amendment is due to site plan changes, including a larger septic system, which was redesigned to accommodate an additional building on the property within 100' of bordering vegetated wetlands in accordance with plans on file. Stephanie Sequin of Ryder & Wilcox and Mr. Goldsmith, the owner of the Elderberry Unit, were in attendance. Stephanie presented the project to the Commission and reviewed the history of the septic systems on this property. She explained that the current Order of Conditions was issued in 1999 when the B Unit was being sold and is for upgrading the septic system serving the B, C and D Units. They are now requesting an expansion of the proposed system from a 7 -bedroom to up to a 10 -bedroom system to include the Goldsmith's A Unit. Stephanie said that she has redesigned the proposed system from a 5 -trench design to a leaching field system and this increases the distance away from the wetlands by a few feet. They have received Board of Health approval and are awaiting DEP approval of their variance request. They may need to revise the system design to include a pump chamber. George Christie asked about the timeframe for DEP approval and when the Goldsmiths would be starting their proposed construction. Stephanie said the DEP approval might take 2 months and Mr. Goldsmith said that they would not be starting work until the Fall or Winter. MOTION: A motion to close the hearing to the taking of testimony was made by George Christie and seconded by Jim Snedecor. VOTE: Unanimous MOTION: A motion to approve the above project, subject to proof of approval of the variance requested from DEP, was made by George Christie and seconded by Arnold Henson. VOTE: Unanimous INFORMAL REVIEW Meeting with Ken McKusick, Chairman, LCPC Dr. McKusick met with the Commissioners to review the LCPC's request for information to help get the Plan certified by the Cape Cod Commission. He explained that the LCPC is meeting with the Cape Cod Commission on August 17th and they need the Conservation Commission to provide recommendations about adopting certain minimum performance standards. He requested a "yes" or "no" if the regulations were covering a performance standard and a few sentences about why or why not they should be included in the LCP. Judy Scanlon asked what was the benefit of having the LCP certified by the Cape Cod 4 Minutes Hearing Tuesday, July 18, 2000 Commission and Dr. McKusick said there was no definable benefit, just the Town showing an intent to participate on a regional basis. The hearing closed at 10:20 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Penny Noll, Conservation Commission Secretary Approved ig,a-e- XitAk. Date /60 Is; ot000 5