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Planning board endorses cease-and-desist for Old Lincoln Street clearing, seeks conservation coordination
Summary
The board endorsed a code-enforcement cease-and-desist for land clearing on Old Lincoln Street after staff and the chair observed more than 20,000 square feet disturbed; members voted to notify the conservation commission and requested that the developer submit the required applications and peer-review materials before work resumes.
The Town of Blackstone Planning Board voted to endorse a cease-and-desist issued by the code enforcement officer for land clearing on Old Lincoln Street and directed staff to notify the conservation commission and code enforcement of the town's land-disturbance regulations.
Chair (name not provided in transcript) said she observed active clearing at the Old Lincoln Street site and, based on Gino's conservative estimate, the cleared area exceeded the town's 20,000-square-foot land-disturbance threshold. "Anything above 20,000 square feet of land disturbance ... they have to come before this board," the chair said, explaining she had asked the code enforcement officer to issue a cease-and-desist while staff work with the developer.
Board members discussed ambiguity between state conservation approvals and local planning bylaws; several members recommended sending a formal memo to the conservation commission to ensure both bodies account for the town's 20,000-square-foot threshold going forward. One member recused from the vote because of prior work with the applicant; after a revised quorum the board re-took the motion and approved endorsement of the cease-and-desist. Gino said his conservative estimate put cleared area "well over 25,000" square feet.
The board directed staff to draft a letter endorsing the code-enforcement action, to request the developer submit a complete planning application and peer-review funds, and to expect the developer to appear at the board's next meeting. The chair noted the board has up to 65 days under the bylaw to act on subsequent filings.
Next steps: staff will send the endorsement letter to code enforcement and the conservation commission and will expect the developer to submit the necessary application materials and peer-review funding before any lifting of the cease-and-desist.
