Weston Conservation Commission Closes Highland Street Hearing After Nearly a Year

WESTON — November 29, 2022 — Weston Conservation Commission closes long-running 355 Highland Street hearing and backs Wellington Farm irrigation hookup. The commission voted 4-0 Tuesday to issue an order of conditions for the Highland Street residential project, which consultant Mark Bursard of WSP said had reduced buffer-zone impervious area by roughly 1,300 square feet and added 22 native species plantings since its last presentation; Conservation Agent Jordan Baker added a perpetual condition allowing hand-removal of invasive bittersweet, calling the site "probably the largest bittersweet infestation of any site that we visited in my memory." In a separate 4-0-1 vote, the commission approved up to $7,000 as a cost-share with farm operator Landsake toward a $10,000 to $12,000 water-main hookup at Wellington Farm, conditioned on the operator first researching grant funding through programs such as the state's food safety modernization grants. The commission also received a Sunset Corner native habitat restoration update from the Weston Plant Pollinator Alliance, projecting roughly $5,000 in plantings over three to four years, and referred two new policy drafts — on informal forest constructions and a simplified invasive-species removal permit — back to staff for further development.