Commission adopts revised agenda submittal policy to reflect stream protection ordinance

The Bedford Conservation Commission on April 22 adopted changes to its agenda submittal policy and updated the permit application to incorporate questions drawn from the town’s recently passed stream protection ordinance.

Kathleen Ports, conservation planner, told the commission that the new page in the permit application mirrors the ordinance criteria for projects requiring a conditional-use permit within the stream buffer and clarifies what applicants must submit. Ports said the edits streamline submissions and tie application questions directly to the ordinance review criteria.

The commission moved to accept the revised agenda submittal policy. A motion was made and seconded; members approved the policy by voice vote.

During discussion Ports said she has already fielded phone calls since the ordinance passed, noting several homeowners contacted staff about removing white pines near homes; one homeowner submitted an arborist report that staff reviewed and approved because the trees met the application’s allowance for removing dead trees. Ports said she advised large tree removals be accompanied by replacement plantings when many trees are proposed for removal.

Commissioners also reviewed a small typographical edit to the submittal form language and agreed that the full page should remain in the application to reflect ordinance criteria. Ports said the commission will hold off on changing the rules of procedure until a final mission statement is settled, because that language appears in multiple documents.

The motion to accept the Bedford Conservation Commission agenda submittal policy passed by voice vote; the transcript records a voice vote approving the policy but does not record individual roll-call tallies.