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Northborough commission allows restaurant’s restoration work at Solomon Pond to start while DEP number is pending
Summary
Facing an enforcement order, the owner of 35 Solomon Pond Road will be allowed to begin gravel removal and plant native shrubs and trees before DEP issues a file number; the Conservation Commission voted to permit restoration work to proceed at the applicants' risk and will continue the hearing in June.
The Conservation Commission voted to let restoration work proceed at 35 Solomon Pond Road—site of a gravel patio adjacent to Solomon Pond—despite the fact that DEP has not yet issued a file number for the notice of intent. The commission treated the application as enforcement-driven and authorized the applicant to begin removal of gravel and bank restoration under the enforcement order, while the formal hearing remains open.
Rich Kirby of LEC Environmental presented the commission with a restoration sketch that separates bank replanting from buffer-zone replanting and specifies native plantings: 12 saplings and 18 shrubs on the bank, and a similar complement in the buffer zone, plus a native wildflower mix in the lawn area. He said the gravel pad is "only maybe 3 or 4 inches deep" with landscape fabric beneath it and that it can be removed with minimal disturbance. The restoration plan calls for removing the gravel and restoring the bank with native trees and shrubs sourced from Bigelow Nurseries and using straw wattles at the base of the slope for sediment control.
Conservation agent Glenda Williamson raised questions about previous herbicide application and noted resprouting of non-native honeysuckle; Kirby said herbicide residues (glyphosate) typically bind to soil and are not expected to prevent successful replanting. Commissioners discussed whether the absence of a DEP file number should bar work; one commissioner said applicants could "go ahead at their own risk" if DEP later required changes. The commission ultimately voted to allow the restoration work to start immediately so plantings can occur in the preferred season, while continuing the formal hearing to June 8.
What happens next: staff will coordinate details for straw wattle placement and monitoring, the applicant will proceed with gravel removal at their risk, and the commission will review any DEP comments at the continued hearing.
