Weston Conservation Commission advances draft wetlands regulations toward 2024 public hearing

WESTON — December 5, 2023 — Weston's Conservation Commission held a first full working session on draft regulations to implement the town's new wetlands bylaw, certified by the attorney general on September 1, 2023. Chair Rees Tulloss and attorney Connor Mullen of KP Law outlined 14 draft regulatory sections and identified three priority policy decisions: codifying the existing 25-foot no-disturb zone as an enforceable standard, setting criteria for assessing buffer-zone activity that adversely impacts that zone, and establishing what evidence can overcome a presumption that a vernal pool exists. The commission also debated a proposed net-improvement standard for undisturbed buffer zone vegetation, with Member Alison Fronk Barlow calling for concrete examples before committing. Earlier in the meeting, the commission voted unanimously to hire PSC as the stormwater peer reviewer for 518 South Avenue under M.G.L. Chapter 44, Section 53G, closed a 2015 enforcement order at 315 Wellesley Street with a return-to-compliance letter and certificate of compliance, and issued an order of conditions for 266 North Avenue after the applicant revised its restoration plan to satisfy the City of Cambridge Water Department.