Nature Conservancy asks for large buffer; planners approve 50-foot industrial buffer and map changes

City planners reviewed a proposal to restore and enlarge Manchester's Conservation District to include additional city-owned parks, Nature Conservancy holdings and several ponds.

The Nature Conservancy and the Conservation Commission asked planning staff to consider a 200-foot buffer along the edge of conserved land to limit encroachment and reduce impacts to sensitive wildlife habitat. Planning staff and several commissioners objected to a blanket 200-foot buffer around the Conservancy's entire 650-acre parcel and said that a citywide, across-the-board 200-foot requirement would be overly broad and legally complicated.

After discussion, commissioners rejected the request for a blanket 200-foot buffer and instead approved a more targeted…