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Commission signs off on 34 Sears Road driveway and stream‑daylighting tied to earlier 20 Sears Road work
Summary
The commission approved an order of conditions for a driveway and completion of a stream‑daylighting project at 34 Sears Road, requiring plantings, timing restrictions for in‑stream work and consistency with an earlier DEP file for adjacent 20 Sears Road work.
The Southborough Conservation Commission issued an order of conditions Sept. 11 for work at 34 Sears Road that includes a driveway within the 100‑foot buffer zone and daylighting the remainder of a stream channel previously addressed at 20 Sears Road.
Mitch Maslanka of Goddard Consulting, the wetland scientist on the project, told commissioners the homeowner will finish removing an old culvert and restore the stream channel across property lines to reconnect two bordering‑vegetated wetlands. Maslanka said no trees would be removed for the driveway and that erosion controls will be placed well upslope of the wetlands. He also said the applicant will plant more than the minimum number of shrubs requested in DEP comments — offering three highbush blueberry and three winterberry where DEP had suggested two of each.
DEP issued a file number and provided comments that the commission and applicant addressed; the agent and applicant agreed that the work needs to be done in low‑flow or no‑flow conditions and that the office will be notified at least 48 hours before pipe removal. The commission required that stream restoration be consistent with methods previously approved under the related DEP file number, called for plantings and asked that stabilization measures (straw netting) be used if required for newly naturalized slopes.
Commissioners also discussed stormwater and impervious‑area mitigation for the new driveway. Engineers confirmed the record includes dry wells and drainage measures sized to handle additional impervious surfaces, and the commission’s agent recommended including explicit findings of fact tying this NOI to the earlier 20 Sears Road approvals.
After public comment was called with no speakers, commissioners moved to close the hearing and issue the order of conditions as proposed by staff; the motion passed on a roll call.
The approval requires coordination with the earlier 20 Sears Road plan and specifies planting, timing for in‑stream work and standard erosion‑control and monitoring requirements. The commission noted that the driveway design should retain measures shown on the plan for infiltrating runoff.
