Commission allows plant ordering, schedules site visit after large clearing at 14 Plover Lane

The Nantucket Conservation Commission on March 20 voted to allow the property owner at 14 Plover Lane to order the plants specified in a submitted restoration plan but kept in place a planting moratorium until commissioners complete an on‑site review. The commission scheduled a field visit for April 1 and directed the owner to submit a Notice of Intent and contractor commitments to the commission before the Apr. 3 meeting.

Commissioners said the step is intended to balance urgency — getting native plants available for spring installation — with the need for a careful, enforceable restoration strategy after more than a half‑acre of vegetation was cleared inside and adjacent to a bordering vegetated wetlands (BVW). The vote to allow ordering but not planting passed with six commissioners in the affirmative; Commissioner Linda Williams abstained.

The restoration materials presented to the commission were prepared by LEC Environmental Consultants and led in the hearing by Brian Madden, who described a plan that includes 16 trees, 35 shrubs and ground‑cover plugs (butterfly milkweed, flattop goldenrod, switchgrass) placed across five restoration zones, a three‑year monitoring schedule, and a watering plan. Madden said the work team intends to remove an existing wire deer fence, install a split‑rail boundary to limit future encroachment and focus planting in the most heavily disturbed areas.

Abutters and their counsel pressed for additional…