Douglas Conservation Commission Orders After-the-Fact Wetland Permits at Two Properties

DOUGLAS -- May 18, 2026, Douglas Conservation Commission directs two homeowners to file after-the-fact wetland permits and leaves a farm exemption dispute unresolved. At its May 18 meeting, the commission told the owners of 56 West Street to submit a notice of intent covering work that aerial photography suggests extended beyond a 2018 order of conditions, including a potentially enlarged deck and pavers installed after a 2022 certificate of compliance was issued. A separate request for a determination of applicability for a pool deck at 69 Woodland Road was tabled after abutter Rebecca Amelia of 81 Little Farm Road told the commission the pool "should have never been an RDA" and that she believed it sits inside the 50-foot buffer zone; the commission asked owner David Payne to return with a revised plan showing the buffer line, impervious area extent, and infiltration chamber locations. A lengthy enforcement dispute over Zero South Street, where M2R Equestrian Athletics LLC operates a stable and riding school, remained open after representative Jim Tocino argued that Massachusetts General Law Chapter 20 explicitly includes "the keeping of horses as a commercial enterprise" within the definition of farming, countering a May 12 town counsel memorandum finding the exemption claim unsupported; the owners have until June 11 to submit further documentation ahead of the June 15 meeting. The commission voted 4-0 twice to continue public hearings, for the Kuiper property at 23 Smith Hill Way and for Deer Crossing Development's Woodland Road wetland crossing, both to June 15.