Homeowner, commission discuss restoration after trees cut at 36 Nicole Terrace; case continued to April 21

The Gardner City Conservation Commission continued an enforcement order for 36 Nicole Terrace to its April 21, 2025 meeting after hearing from a representative for the property and discussion about restoration steps.

Larianne Fidelis, identified in the record as representing Nicole Terrace and listing an affiliation of "Larianne Fidelis Realty Residential," described tree removal and on-site conditions to the commission. “Clearly, the trees have been cut. The stumps are 2 to 3 feet high throughout,” Fidelis said, and described brush piles, limb stockpiles and stump sprouting from red maples.

Fidelis said the work appeared to be clearing rather than timbering and that loggers had been contacted to skid logs off the frozen ground to limit soil damage. She estimated “about 25” trees were removed from the 30-foot no-touch buffer and reported some trunks 15 to 18 inches in diameter, with many maples around 10 inches and multiple 4–6 inch stems growing in clumps.

Commission members asked for a written planting plan and a diagram of proposed locations for shrubs and saplings. Fidelis said she will wait until logs and chips are removed and the snow melts, then prepare a planting plan; she said she will be out of state from March 7 through April 12 but expected to provide a plan in mid-April and proposed planting to begin in May when conservation-district seedlings become available.

Commission member discussion emphasized avoiding species that would re-create the original hazard (Fidelis said white pines were removed because of a hazard to a house) and suggested at minimum replacing removed trees with saplings and preserving stump sprouts for red maples where appropriate. Commissioners asked that the property owner identify the exact wetland line in spring and provide nine physical copies of the planting plan and one electronic submission the week of April 7 so staff could review before the April 21 meeting.

The commission approved a motion to continue the enforcement-order item to the April 21 meeting by roll call. The commission did not adopt a final enforcement remedy at the February meeting; rather, it directed the representative and staff to coordinate removal of logs and a subsequent planting and restoration plan for review at the continuance.