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Southampton board grants waivers for Cold Spring Road home site after applicant cites conservation approval
Summary
The Planning Board approved plan acceptance and issued waivers from some stormwater-report requirements for a residential project at 64 Cold Spring Road after the applicant said conservation commission had approved erosion-control measures and that additional clearing unexpectedly triggered state disturbance thresholds.
The Southampton Planning Board voted June 24 to accept revised erosion‑control plans for a proposed home at 64 Cold Spring Road and to waive parts of the typical stormwater study and peer‑review requirements after the applicant said conservation had reviewed the changes.
Applicant Alan Kauitz (represented at the meeting by contractor George Costa) said the property owner cleared a small flat area for a garden and recreational use, and that conservation staff had reviewed and indicated no objection to the additional clearing. Costa told the board he had used mulched tree material as a continuous erosion control berm around the disturbed perimeter and described additional measures — swales, stone brookbeds and gravel trenches — designed to keep water on the property. “There’s no water leaving this property,” Costa said, arguing that the measures would prevent erosion and runoff to nearby wetlands.
The board and staff noted the project triggered state MS4/stormwater thresholds when disturbance approached or exceeded one acre (roughly 40,000 square feet), and discussed adding clearer square‑footage reporting to the building‑permit application so future applicants would be warned when a planning board review or stormwater filing will be required.
A neighbor who said he visited the site told the board he saw the clearing located “well away from the wetland” and expressed no objection.
After discussion, a motion was made and seconded to approve the revised plan and to issue the limited waivers the applicant requested (the waiver scope and conditions were described on the record). The board indicated assent and the chair said he would write a formal decision and forward it to the town clerk and building inspector.
The applicant was told to provide digital and hard copies of the final plan for the town’s records; the chair said the written decision would be forwarded to the building inspector to allow the project to proceed with permitting.
