Commission issues Negative 3 determination with erosion‑control condition for Church Street parking renovations

At its July 16 meeting the Lowell Conservation Commission voted to issue a Negative 3 Determination with a condition requiring erosion controls for a parking-lot renovation at 242 Church Street proposed by Community Teamwork Inc. Andrew Thibault, a wetland scientist with Goddard Consulting, presented plans to repave and reconfigure an existing fully impervious L‑shaped lot at the corner of Church and Warren in Lowell and to add stormwater infiltration systems beneath new concrete pavers and beneath portions of the parking area. Thibault said the work would reduce impervious surface by about 172 square feet, add 39 trees and shrubs and 20 herbaceous plugs, and direct roof gutters into new infiltration chambers. He told commissioners the Concord River and its bordering vegetated wetland had been delineated on April 18 and that the proposed work sits on the far side of the building from the river; the 25‑foot riverfront area lies outside the project and the 100‑foot buffer clips the site. Commissioners asked about erosion control measures. Thibault said the project team would accept a condition requiring appropriate erosion controls around the work area and would avoid wrapping controls around the city sidewalk unless necessary. A motion for a Negative 3 Determination with a condition requiring erosion controls along the roadways was made, seconded and approved unanimously. The applicant described the project as a net environmental improvement: addition of below‑grade Coltec infiltration systems, landscaping and a reduction in impervious area were intended to increase on‑site stormwater management where none currently exists. The Conservation Commission attached the erosion‑control condition to the Negative 3 Determination to protect the nearby Concord River during construction.