Chair Dave Harrer and the Needham Conservation Commission voted unanimously Jan. 9 to issue an order of conditions for work at 74 Gary Road (DEP file 234-941), allowing demolition of the existing house and construction of a new house and associated driveway while requiring habitat restoration and long-term monitoring in the riverfront area.

The commission’s decision requires the applicant to install a larger infiltration system per the engineer’s revised calculations, complete a riverfront restoration planting in the project’s mitigation area, and submit an operations-and-maintenance (O&M) plan before a certificate of compliance is issued. Commissioners also approved permanent demarcation of the 100-foot riverfront buffer and a prohibition on mowing beyond that buffer.

The project team told the commission the property owner will not remove the two trees the commission had discussed at a prior hearing and that the proposed work will take place in the outer portion of the 100-foot riverfront area to Herd Brook. The commission recorded that the applicant’s existing altered area exceeds the 10 percent threshold by 447 square feet; under DEP guidance the mitigation planting area must be provided at a 2:1 ratio, producing a mitigation planting area of 895 square feet.

Required plantings described by staff include six native trees (three American hornbeam and three red maple), 12 native shrubs such as blueberry and sweet fern, and 12 ground‑cover plantings (white wood aster, brown‑eyed Susan and smooth aster). The order of conditions also requires invasive species removal within the restoration area.

Commissioners noted that a test pit for the proposed infiltration system had not yet been completed; the permit includes a condition requiring submission of test‑pit data before final compliance. The O&M plan must be signed by the property owner and be filed at the time of the certificate of compliance request; commissioners discussed that typical O&M items include at least annual inspection and cleaning of infiltration components. The commission also added a two‑year monitoring requirement and a condition that no further alteration of the restoration area is allowed except actions needed to maintain the restored area.

The commission voted to require permanent demarcation of the 100‑foot riverfront buffer with markers (landscape boulders, split‑rail or rope fencing, or similar barriers) designed to avoid impeding small wildlife movement; commissioners opted not to require separate permanent markers for the mitigation planting area itself, saying the 100‑foot demarcation is adequate.

The commission closed the hearing and issued the order of conditions by roll call vote; all members present voted in the affirmative. Staff told the applicant the signed permit would be ready at the start of the week and that the applicant could pick it up in person.

The decision allows the project to proceed subject to those conditions; the commission retained standard monitoring and compliance steps before the certificate of compliance is issued.