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Applicants describe boathouse rebuild, large garage and additions at 15 Mackinac Road; commission flags 50-foot buffer impacts
Summary
Developer Brent White outlined a multi-part proposal at 15 Mackinac Road including demolishing a failing boathouse and replacing a 97 sq ft shed with a 432 sq ft garage/living space; commissioners raised concerns about increases in footprint within the 50-foot wetland buffer and requested further plans and calculations.
Brent White, an engineer with White Engineering, told the Stockbridge Conservation Commission that the family-owned property at 15 Mackinac Road includes an aging boathouse the team proposes to demolish and rebuild within the same footprint. "Our desire would be to demolish the boathouse," White said, adding the rebuild would use hand methods and steel supports to avoid extended piers.
White said the formal proposal would include four elements: the boathouse rebuild, a modest addition to the main house, raising a guest house on its existing foundation to create a second level, and replacing a small shed with a larger garage that would also include habitable space. He said the existing shed is about 97 square feet and the proposed garage would have a 432-square-foot footprint, moving the closest structure from about 14.6 feet to roughly 19 feet from a bordering vegetated wetland.
The commissioners repeatedly emphasized the town's 50-foot wetland setback. One commissioner said the bylaw's limit exists for a reason: "When you lose buffer, it's lost, and it serves a purpose." Commissioners asked for clearer site plans showing setback lines and for calculations that quantify the net change in buffer and lot coverage.
Prospective applicant Harold Colton Max asked whether improving a preexisting nonconformity might be viewed favorably. White said the team aims to show the net effect of removing some impervious areas and increasing native vegetative buffer in other places, noting the difficulty of siting on historically narrow lots.
No permit decisions were taken; the presentation was informal. The commission asked the applicants to return with detailed site plans, calculations of lot coverage and buffer trade-offs, and a site visit to verify lines and proposed planting before a formal Notice of Intent is filed.
