Dealing with the Conservation Commission

It is getting to be prime season for thinking of projects on our property: an addition or alteration of a house, some landscaping. Some people will be surprised to find that many such projects must be reviewed by the town Conservation Commission and the state's Department of Environmental Protection.

What projects must be approved?

Projects, including construction and removal of vegetation, within in an area subject to the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act or the town wetlands bylaw, or within a 100 foot buffer zone of a wetland or a 200 foot buffer of a river. There can be some technicalities involved in determining exactly where the law applies, but generally any lake, pond, river, permanent stream, or seasonal stream (including manmade drainage channels), is protected, as well as any adjacent floodplain, swamp, marsh, or wet meadow. If you have done some walking around our area, you will know that the territory within 100 feet of these resource areas includes a high proportion of our homes, farms, and businesses

How do I get approval?

In most cases the review is very simple, requiring you only to fill out a short form telling the what you plan to do with a few sentences and a sketch, to come to a scheduled meeting of the conservation commission or answer questions from them or other citizens. Your response is likely to be a form from the commission perhaps giving a few guidelines for how the work can be done to minimize the chances of its adding silt to a wetland, or adding pollutants to the groundwater.

What's the point?

Some people still consider swamps to be waste space to be filled, but it has slowly been recognized that wetlands play a major role in protecting us from stormwater damage, from pollution of surface water and groundwater, as well as providing key habitats for fish and wildlife. State law therefore forbids filling or disturbing even small areas of wetland.

Some people think that the protection of the environment can be left to the common sense of the builder, but a lot has been learned about protecting the environment that isn't obvious. The purpose of this procedure is to assure that this information is applied to all projects. An important principle is that activities that have a tiny impact individually can wreck things cumulatively.

This all inspires some people to make outraged noises about property rights, but there have always been restrictions what you can do on your property: you cannot endanger others, or even yourself, by shoddy building practices. Rights end where they impinge on someone else's rights: their rights to enjoy their property free from damage caused by activities on your property, and the more general right of all of us, recognized in the Massachusetts Constitution, to a clean environment.

Just as with anything else, more elaborate projects are best done with professional help. Engineers and landscape architects registered to practice in Massachusetts are generally very familiar with the guidelines given in the Act and Regulations, can give you accurate advice on what can and cannot be done, and can usually produce a plan that goes through local and state review without a hitch.

The other thing you might find annoying is takes a little time. We are sometimes asked, "This project is tiny and harmless, can't you just sign off on it right now or look the other way?". The law makes it very clear that we cannot -- the members of public (especially, of course, your neighbors) have a right to be informed in advance and to participate in a public meeting or hearing, and the members of the Commission need to see where the work is planned. The law specifies how they must be informed and how much advance warning of the meeting they must be given. (The only exception is that we are allowed to give quick response to an emergency which causes a real threat to public health or safety.)

If you think ahead and file early, this won't delay you, but if you put it off till you want to start work, or try to slip past it, you can easily be delayed a month or more.

Who are these people?

Conservation commissions are made up of citizen volunteers appointed by the selectmen and backed up by the professional environmental engineers and biologists of the state Department of Environmental Protection. They receive training from the D.E.P and the Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions. Volunteers are always needed; contact the Commission.

What happens if I just don't file?

The state takes a very dim view of environmental scofflaws. Very large fines are possible.

Where can I get more information?

Call the Conservation Commission at 468-5583, or contact any Commission member.