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Conservation commission to ask Planning Board to add vernal pools to wetlands ordinance
Summary
Chair Kathleen Babin-Johnson said the commission will request the Planning Board update the town's Wetlands zoning ordinance (XVIII)—citing voter-approved Article 6—to explicitly include vernal pools in setback and buffer tables; the request follows easement-monitoring spreadsheets from 2018 and 2019 identifying pool locations.
Chair Kathleen Babin-Johnson told the Greenland Conservation Commission on March 11 that she received 2018 and 2019 easement-monitoring spreadsheets from former chair Laura Byergo showing vernal-pool locations and proposed that the commission ask the Planning Board to update the town’s Wetlands zoning ordinance (XVIII) to explicitly include vernal pools in structure setback and wetland buffer tables.
Members agreed and asked Kathleen to reach out to Planning Board Chair Bob Dion to request the update. The commission noted that voters approved Article 6 on the recent ballot, which affects sections 18.7.2 and 18.8 of the ordinance, and that adding explicit references to vernal pools to the tables would clarify setback and buffer application during development review.
Commissioners discussed using the spreadsheets as a starting point for a comprehensive inventory of vernal pools in town. No formal vote was taken at the meeting; the commission will follow up with the Planning Board and consider next steps at a future meeting.
