2014 ATM - CONS ART 26 RPT - Laserfiche WebLink

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'oVg MopNJ o¢ 1775 s Town of Lexington Q ry-. zv D s o b Conservation Commission V APRIL 1r �FXINO, Joyce Miller, Chair Tel: (781) 862-0500 x84531 Philip Hamilton Fax: (781) 861-2780 Richard Wolk Ralph Bitsko David Langseth Stewart Kennedy Jane Warren LEXINGTON CONSERVATION COMMISSION REPORT TO THE 2014 ANNUAL TOWN MEETING ARTICLE 26 —AMEND CHAPTER 130, WETLAND PROTECTION THIS REPORT WAS ACCEPTED BY VOTE OF THE CONSERVATION COMMISSION ON MARCH 11, 2014 The Conservation Commission proposes these amendments to the Town Bylaw in order to enable it to use two expedited procedures that are already authorized by the state wetland protection act and regulations for use in handling applications to which the state act applies . Those two procedures are the "Abbreviated Notice of Resource Area Delineation' ("ANRAD") and the "Determination of Minor Activity." The proposed amendments would authorize the Commission to use those two procedures in processing applications filed under the Town's Bylaw for Wetland Protection. The ANRAD procedure would enable an applicant to obtain an official determination of the boundary of a resource area without having to file the standard "Notice of Intent,"with its accompanying documentation. The applicant could thus postpone the expense of preparing detailed plans and drainage calculations until after receiving an approved delineation of the protected resources on the property. Authorization for the ANRAD procedure can be found in Section 130-2.C. of the proposal. The Determination of Minor Activity is a permitting procedure that is less costly and less time- consuming than the standard"Notice of Intent"procedure. It can be used to permit minor projects located at least 50 feet from a wetland or other protected resource area. (The Notice of Intent procedure must still be used for larger projects and for those closer to resource areas.) For many years, the Commission has used a very similar procedure, the "Determination of Applicability,"to permit such minor projects. The Commission would issue a"negative determination of applicability with conditions," thus permitting the minor project and imposing any conditions deemed necessary to protect the resource area. This method of permitting minor projects was authorized by the state wetland protection act and regulations, and the Commission used it to permit projects under both the state act and the town bylaw. However, last November a Superior Court judge ruled that the Commission could not issue a"negative determination of 1625 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE•LEXINGTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02420 Page 1 of 2