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Applicant argues riverfront alternatives met as commission hears addition, invasive plant removal at BB Acres Road
Summary
At a Nov. 13 hearing the commission considered a rear addition and deck relocation for 93 BB Acres Road; the applicant said proposed work is largely invasive-plant removal and that an alternatives analysis shows no reasonable site alternatives despite crossing the Riverfront Act 5,000-sq.-ft. threshold.
Mike Bocelli of Falmouth Engineering presented a notice-of-intent on Nov. 13 for property owner Albert Gabrielli at 93 BB Acres Road to relocate a deck and add a 12-by-42-foot rear addition. Bocelli said the lot fronts Fresh River, contains bordering vegetated wetland and land subject to coastal storm flowage, and is largely dominated by invasive plants the applicant wants to remove.
Bocelli told commissioners the commission previously allowed a 5,700-square-foot area of alteration and that the current proposal includes roughly an additional 768 square feet plus a maintained cleared area of about 871 square feet, bringing the total alteration just over 7,000 square feet — above the 5,000-square-foot Riverfront Act threshold. "So it's the flat area in the back that has to get maintained... it's got a deep root network. It expands rapidly and it regenerates quickly," the property owner said when describing the invasives problem.
Bocelli said the project stays in the outer riverfront buffer (zone B) and that the primary alteration is removal of invasive material rather than removal of native vegetation or tree cutting. He argued the applicants had written an alternatives analysis and asserted they "overcame the presumptions of significance" in the riverfront regulations, allowing the reviewing authority to approve more than the 5,000-square-foot presumption.
Commissioners questioned square-foot totals and asked about long-term control of the plant identified repeatedly in the discussion as "devil's walking stick." Bocelli and the property owner said an arborist (Sean Wolf of Cape Cod Tree) identified the invasive species. Commissioners suggested the owner consider targeted control measures, such as cut-and-paint application of glyphosate or consulting specialized contractors; Bocelli said he would refer the owner to consultants and return if an enhanced treatment were proposed.
The chair closed the hearing and took the matter under advisement for the commission to consider whether the applicant had demonstrated overcoming the presumptions required under the riverfront regulations. No formal order or permit was issued at the Nov. 13 meeting.
