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Commission schedules sitewalk for proposed Stony Brook Lane home after planner outlines upland impacts
Summary
The Watertown Conservation Commission scheduled a sitewalk for Aug. 13 to review a proposed single-family home on Stony Brook Lane after a planner said the project would avoid filling wetlands but would impact roughly 30,116 sq ft of regulated upland; commissioners requested staking of the proposed house, septic, limit-of-disturbance and two alternate locations.
Sebino, a planner with Pratzer Jones & Associates, presented Application 2026-15 for a single-family home on a 4.47-acre lot in Hidden Pond Estates and said the proposal avoids filling wetlands but would affect approximately 30,116 square feet of upland for the house, septic system, driveway and well. The commission scheduled a sitewalk for Aug. 13 at 5:30 p.m. and asked the applicant to stake the proposed house footprint, the septic area, the limit of clearing and the corners of two alternate house locations.
The planner told the commission the property contains about 26,674 square feet of wetland and an upland review area totaling about 113,733 square feet and that most groundwater feeding the wetland comes from the west side of the lot. He proposed a front rain garden to capture roof runoff and said standard erosion controls—silt fence and silt sock—would be installed and maintained, and that town staff would inspect stakes and disturbance limits before work begins.
A commission engineering commenter asked the applicant to confirm water-quality volume calculations for the proposed rain garden, saying, "I think your rain garden's undersized" and referring to the stormwater quality formula the commenter cited as a 1.3 multiplier on impervious area. The commission asked the applicant to provide the specific water-quality volume calculations and to flag wetlands and stake alternative locations before the sitewalk.
Commission discussion established that the lot was created as part of the original Hidden Pond Estates subdivision; commissioners noted much of the parcel lies within the upland review buffer and said the presented option (option A) appears less disruptive than the alternates. The commission voted to schedule the sitewalk and to require staking of the primary and alternate layouts and the limit of disturbance. The sitewalk will precede the regular August meeting to give commissioners a field view before any decision at a future meeting.
