Weston Hires Outside Consultant to Review Wetland-Surrounded Rockport Road Home Proposal

WESTON — February 15, 2022 — Weston Conservation Commission orders outside review of proposed home on lot nearly entirely within wetland buffer. The commission voted unanimously at its February 15 meeting to hire environmental consultant Patrick Gardner under MGL Chapter 44, Section 53G to assess a notice of intent filed by applicant Brandon Robinson for a single-family house at 120 Rockport Road, where 97 percent of the 1.47-acre parcel lies within or inside the 100-foot wetland buffer zone. The Department of Environmental Protection had issued a written comment warning the project "eliminates buffer zone protection for wetland by building too close to the wetland" — a step Chair Joe Berman called extraordinary in his years on the commission. Land-use attorney Jamie Buchanan-Madeha, citing 35 years of DEP experience, urged commissioners not to treat the comment as a definitive ruling, while ecological designer Angela Kearney outlined a restoration plan that would permanently protect 60 percent of the parcel via deed restriction. The hearing was continued to March 15, 2022 at 7:30 p.m. The commission also postponed a partial certificate of compliance at 71 Concord Road until boundary boulders required under the existing order of conditions are installed.