Commission conditions Mill River certificate of compliance on tree-mitigation payment

The Northampton Conservation Commission on March 27 signaled it will issue a certificate of compliance for access work to install monitoring wells in the former Mill River channel only after the applicant makes a payment to the city's tree mitigation fund.

Commission staff described the work as completed as proposed and said restoration met expectations, but noted a previously required condition that the applicant return with a restoration and planting plan because the precise locations and number of trees removed were not known at the time of work.

Because only seven small trees were removed and the site constraints make on-site replanting impractical, the applicant proposed a payment to the tree mitigation fund in lieu of planting. Staff said the planning board's standard formula — which calculates mitigation based on caliper at breast height — would be used to determine the amount. Commissioners expressed concern about long-term maintenance but agreed the approach was reasonable under the circumstances, and the commission said it would issue the certificate after the payment is made and verified by staff.

No formal vote was recorded at the meeting; commissioners described it as the "sense of the meeting" that the mitigation payment was appropriate and that issuance of the certificate should be contingent on receipt of that payment.