Conservation Commission To Take Enforcement Actions

The  Revere Conservation Commission took up a number of matters at its monthly meeting last Wednesday in the Joseph Del Grosso City Council Chambers.

Chairman John Shue and fellow commissioners Zachary Bisconti, Heather Legere, Nathalie Pardo, and Joseph Lavalle were on hand for the meeting.

Although the meeting was relatively-uneventful, the commission voted to take enforcement actions against three homeowners who had undertaken projects in their backyards, which abut wetland areas, without first receiving permission from the commission to perform the work.

The agenda items, followed by the commission members’  discussion and vote on each item, were as follows:

1) PMA DEP File #061-0774 – Abbreviated Notice of Resource Area Delineation – area off Muzzy Street – Hayes Engineering, Inc.

Discussion and vote:

Anthony Capachietti from Hayes Engineering appeared for the petitioner, which owns the property off Muzzy St. Capachietti’s purpose in coming before the commission was to seek the commissioners’ approval of the wetland line that his firm had mapped out on the property.

Capachietti explained that the owner of the property presently has no plans to develop the land, which Shue described as a “hilly and rocky area,” primarily because the land is accessible only through a residential neighborhood in the Town of Saugus, which has not given its approval to any development as of this time.

“We’re seeking to have the wetland line be set ahead of moving forward with a project,” said Capachietti. “There is no project in the pipeline because we need to get access through Saugus. There is nothing imminent because there are problems with access through the residential neighborhood.”

However, Capachietti explained that if the property owner should get permission to move forward with a project in the future, having the wetland line already established will speed up the process.

The commission voted 5-0 to accept the wetland line as presented by Hayes Engineering.

2) MA DEP File #061-0688 Request for Certificate of Compliance; Existing Conditions – As-Built Plan, 245 Revere Beach Parkway; Site As-Built Plan, 205 Revere Beach Parkway; and 2021 Mitigation Monitoring Report, 205 Revere Beach Parkway.

Discussion and vote:

Rick Lentini, a  civil engineer, appeared on behalf of the applicant. Three members of the commission had performed a site visit to the property at 205 Revere Beach Parkway, which is a residential apartment building, prior to the hearing.

The main issues before the board pertained to parking and the proper removal of snow from the parking lot.

“What kind of plan do you have in case of a 100 year flood for parking?” asked Lavalle,

“Do the tenants know their parking is in a flood plain?” Bisconti queried.

“Where will they pile snow?,” Shue  asked. “The issue is piling it up against a back fence (which abuts wetlands) and letting it melt without a treatment system.”

The commissioners also wanted to see maintenance logs for the property. A representative from the property owner noted however, that there was a change of the property manager in June and therefore there were only a few months of property logs available.

“I think we should make it a condition of compliance that they provide quarterly maintenance plans and must make arrangements for snow to be trucked away from the site,” said Shue, who noted that, “Everything else has been done in substantial completion of the conditions.”

The commission then cited 5-0 to approve the Certificate of Completion with the added conditions.

3) Donation of land from Joseph Festa Construction Co., Inc. for conservation purposes. Lot C Emanuel Street – Blk-Pcl-Unit 018-324G-001B

Discussion and vote:

“We always are interested in land to protect for conservation purposes,” said Shue. “The city would like to do it in case it needs to trade land with the state DCR for another purpose in the future. The City Council needs a letter from us accepting this property and donation.”

The commission voted 5-0 to accept the property and send the appropriate letter to the City Council.

4) Potential Enforcement Action – 630 Revere Beach Boulevard.

Discussion and vote:

This matter pertained to work performed by the owners of 630 Revere Beach Blvd., who appeared on behalf of themselves. The issue for the owners is that they had attempted some self-help to alleviate a flooding problem on their property without obtaining permission from the Conservation Commission.

The homeowners told the commission that they have owned the property for about a year, but have had flooding in their garage and basement during heavy rains because of the pitch of the property.

They dug out their backyard to alleviate the problem, but did so without the necessary permits.

“I issued a notice of warning of potential violation and that we needed them to come here to explain to us what they’re doing,” Shue explained to his fellow commissioners. “They have done a bunch of work. A lot of soil has been  removed without a permit from the commission.”

When asked by the commissioners whether they have a plan, the owners replied that they wish to remove the soil and replace it with crushed stone.

“Our concern is that the back of the lot is near the turning circle to get to Riverview with a wetlands and drainage,” said Shue. “We want to control sediment before it runs off the property. If you had come to us ahead of time, it is likely that you would have been approved.

“But the sides need to be stabilized and the final elevation needs to be adhered to,” Shue continued. “We need a plan of what that’s going to look like. You must file a notice of intent with proper notice to abutters.”

After the owners explained that they had no intention of doing further work in the near-future, Shue explained, “We’re trying to work with you, but we need a timeline that is sooner rather than later. We want to address this at our January meeting, which means you must have a drawing and a Notice of Intent (NOI), with advertising in the newspaper, by mid-December.

“The issue is proximity to wetlands and we need to bring this back into compliance,” Shue concluded.

Shue then brought before the commission another potential enforcement action for the properties at 8 and 10 Marsh View Terrace, a cul de sac located in No. Revere behind Rumney Marsh.

Shue explained that the owner of 10 Marsh View Terrace had obtained a permit from the city to fill in his backyard, in order to extend it, after seeing that his neighbor had done so and had installed a patio on the premises, with possible plans for a swimming pool.

“I was asked whether this falls within the commission’s jurisdiction and after doing some research, I determined that this is in an Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC),” said Shue, who said he had consulted with the State Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) to determine the appropriate enforcement mechanism by the commission.

“Rumney Marsh is nearby,” Shue continued. “Construction debris and rubble cannot be used as fill, which is what they’ve done. This requires an enforcement order in order to tell them what they need to do to correct the problem.

“Since their property drains into Rumney Marsh, an erosion sediment barrier needs to be out up and the owners must hire a wetlands scientist to restore the wetlands with native species to replace the invasive species that are there now,” Shue added.

The commission voted 5-0 to accept the DEP’s recommendation to proceed in this manner. The commissioners signed an enforcement letter ordering the homeowners to appear at the commission’s next meeting on December 1 with a plan and that all work must be completed no later than March.

In their final matters on the agenda, the commissioners acknowledged the resignations from the commission of Bisconti, effective at the end of the meeting, and Pardo, effective November 30. Shue noted that they are pursuing career opportunities in Washington, D.C. and South Africa.

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