The Lowell Conservation Commission continued an enforcement hearing on Sept. 24 regarding trees cut within the floodplain at 48 Townsend Ave, property of the Khmer cultural center. Commission members asked the property representatives to return Oct. 8 with a site plan showing where replacement trees can be planted without later disturbance, and allowed removal of dead fallen trees immediately.

Commission Chair opened the item by summarizing an enforcement order tied to the site and said the commission was seeking a response from the property owner about rectification. Somkhan, president of the Wakmayi Lowell and Khmer American Cultural Centers, told the commission that an invited contractor and local leaders had removed trees and that his organization had already planted 39 emerald green arborvitae as mitigation, 14 of them within the prior week. “We wanted to ask the commissioner to work with us and to approve that this mitigation by planting the tree be in replacement of the tree that was cut down,” Somkhan said.

Commissioners said the recently planted arborvitae do not match the size or hydrologic function of the trees removed from the flood zone. “To me, 39 arborvitae don’t equate for the volume of trees that have been cut down here,” the chair said, noting earlier measurements supplied by the applicant that listed 22 trees removed by diameter (four at 18 inches, 11 at 14 inches, seven at 10 inches). Commissioners asked the applicant to show where, on a plan, trees could be placed now in areas the commission expects will not be disturbed by future site work.

The applicant said the full site redevelopment plan (an earlier approval that the chair said has expired) will include additional plantings such as dogwoods but that some planting locations would be disturbed during future construction. The commission asked for a simple map (engineer-drawn not required) identifying existing cuts and the locations of the 39 arborvitae and any other planting areas that will not be disturbed by future grading or drainage work. The commission cautioned that planted shrubs often fail where they are not appropriate for the location and asked the applicant to identify species and to consult the city conservation agent for recommended trees.

Commissioners reiterated that removal of dead and fallen trees already on the ground is allowed immediately. They also said planting shrubs that would later be torn up by construction is not sufficient to meet mitigation for trees removed from a regulated floodplain. The commission asked the applicant to provide the requested plan at the Oct. 8 meeting and specified that, if there are no plantable non‑disturbance areas on site, the applicant should put that finding in writing.

A motion to continue the enforcement hearing to the Oct. 8 meeting passed with the applicant’s assent. The commission directed the applicant to deliver a map to Dylan, the city conservation agent, who will circulate it to commissioners prior to the next meeting.