The Town of Charlton Conservation Commission closed the public hearing and issued an order of conditions for a proposed single-family home at 0 North Main Street, after staff recommended approval despite the project exceeding the conservation commission’s 10% disturbance allowance in the riverfront area.

Staff told the commission the lot is a little over 28,000 square feet and the proposed disturbance in the riparian zone is about 5,508 square feet; the commission noted the 10% allowance for that lot would be about 2,847 square feet. Staff described site work to remove invasive Japanese knotweed, plant wetland vegetation, install stormwater measures and record a deed restriction limiting future disturbance. The commission voted to close the hearing and issue the order of conditions with oral conditions.

Why it matters: riverfront-area controls are intended to protect stream and lake banks from erosion and to preserve habitat. Staff and the applicant argued the net effect of the work would be an improvement to riverfront condition in specific stretches of the parcel and that mitigation measures exceed the one-to-one mitigation requirement for redevelopment under the riverfront rules.

Staff said they had requested a deed restriction limiting disturbance and permanent demarcation (boulders every 15 feet) to prevent future impacts. The staff recommendation acknowledged that the disturbance exceeds the 10% threshold and noted that the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) or other state reviewers retain authority to appeal or challenge a local approval.

The applicant, identified as Chris Hanson, said the project team opted to keep the property as a single-family lot and to provide deed restrictions that would preclude later subdivision or duplex development. “We’re not gonna be going through the site plan approval to try to get duplex or anything like that. We’re just gonna go with what’s by right and keep the disturbance to a realistic number to actually fit a structure of that,” Hanson said.

The commission closed the public hearing on an oral motion and issued the order of conditions; staff said the written order would be provided to the applicant shortly. The commission recorded that it had recommended conditions intended to minimize future disturbance and to ensure compliance with Title 5 septic standards once septic designs are finalized and reviewed by the board of health.

No formal numeric roll call was recorded in the transcript; the meeting minutes show the motion carried with the ayes prevailing.