Proposed New Regulations for the Lawrence Conservation Commission

It's been some time since I've posted anything to my blog but some important Con Com business has given me a reason to start posting again.

 On Tuesday, June 16th the Lawrence Conservation Commission will hold a public hearing on proposed regulations that update and strengthen the protections that we enjoy under our local wetland protection ordinance. Some context might be helpful.

 Every city and town in Massachusetts has a Conservation Commission (Con Com). Con Coms were established by law in 1954 and are responsible for protecting and managing natural resources like conservation areas, drinking water supplies, endangered species habitat, etc. Con Coms have enforcement and regulatory powers and act under a variety of state laws such as the Wetland Protection Act (WPA) and the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act (MESA). If you want to develop land that contains a resource area like a marsh, or is in the buffer zone of a stream, your local Con Com is the regulatory body that would issue a permit under the WPA. Over half of the cities and towns in the Commonwealth have also passed a local wetland ordinance or bylaw, providing stricter performance standards than the state WPA. In 2004, Lawrence joined every other community in the Merrimack Valley by passing the Lawrence Wetland Protection Ordinance. At the time it was one of the most stringent in Massachusetts. A provision of the ordinance allows the Con Com to enact regulation that update and improve the performance standards in the ordinance. In other words, the Con Com can update provisions of the ordinance after a public hearing and a vote.

We will be having such a hearing on the 16th and if you are interested in protecting the environment here in Lawrence, I encourage you to attend. The proposed regulations will significantly update and improve the protections under our local ordinance and will give the Con Com the tools it needs to better protect the community and its natural resources. I do want to point out that the general provisions of the ordinance in terms of jurisdiction, filing procedures, fees etc. are largely unchanged. Similarly, many of the specific performance standards for most wetland resource areas and rivers remain unchanged. The full text of the proposed regulations will be at the end of this post but these points summarize the proposed regulations:

 ** The requirement to use the most current published rainfall data for all storm water calculations has been added and the two most current datasets – The Corner Rainfall Atlas and NOAA 14 are specified as the only approved datasets.

 ** The definition of Bordering Land Subject to Flooding (BLSF) has been changed from the 100 year to the 500 year flood zone and the requirement for 1 to 1 storage replacement on site is specified.

** The definition of wildlife habitat is added.

 ** Recreational access is added as a public interest to be protected under the regulations.

 ** The “riverfront area” has been slightly modified to make all land within 200 feet of any river or perennial stream jurisdictional.

 ** The measurement point for riverfront area that contains a built structure that constricts or alters the bank has been changed to top of bank from mean high water.

 ** The buffer zone for vernal pools has been expanded to 750 feet from the delineated border of any pool. Vernal pools are also protected by a 100 foot no disturbance buffer.

 ** The definition of “altering” now included removing, or failing to maintain any structure that functions as endangered species or migratory bird habitat.

 ** Specific language specifying that any alteration permissible under the performance standards of the riverfront area is not a right and is solely at the commission’s discretion.