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Conservation commission issues enforcement order for Madaket property; restoration plan due in 30 days
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Summary
The commission voted unanimously to issue an enforcement order for unauthorized landscaping and construction within wetland buffer zones at 21R Madaket Road and required a restoration plan within 30 days; the owner’s team said a plan has already been prepared and neighbors are cooperating.
The Nantucket Conservation Commission voted unanimously on April 16 to issue an enforcement order for 21R Madaket Road after staff and the property's surveyor described landscaping, stone walls and clearing that encroached into wetland buffer areas.
Paul Sanchez of Nantucket Surveyors told the commission the filing was a voluntary request for an enforcement order after work — including a pool and landscape changes — was performed close to and within the commission's jurisdiction. "This work that you see there, this is the wetland line that you see on the plan," Sanchez said, describing cleared lawn, stone landscape walls and areas now in commission jurisdiction.
Jesse Bell, the owner's attorney, told the commission that some older stone walls date to 2015–2016 but acknowledged recent clearing inside the buffer. "It's very cooperative at the moment between the neighbors, and they're working it out," Bell said. "We wanted to come in and make this right so that it does it's not, you know, an outstanding violation for her potentially in the future."
Commissioners discussed whether related work on the adjacent 16 Meadow Lane should be included; staff said the enforcement order can reference both parcels but that permitting or restoration work on 16 Meadow would require evidence of a violation before the commission could authorize restoration there. The commission asked staff to pull permitting history and to inspect the sites as needed.
The commission moved to issue an enforcement order that will require submission of a restoration plan to the commission within 30 days; the motion passed by unanimous roll‑call vote. The chair said a digital signature page for the order would be provided to staff promptly.
The enforcement order formalizes the remediation timeline but also leaves open the commission’s ability to amend requirements if subsequent site inspection or additional evidence indicates broader impacts or additional parcels are implicated.
