Hearing on after-the-fact work at 56 Spring Street continued to June 22 for mitigation plan

The Foxborough Conservation Commission on June 8 continued the hearing for an after-the-fact Notice of Intent at 56 Spring Street (D157671) and asked the applicant to return on June 22 with a restoration planting plan and other mitigation details.

Karen Skinnick, attorney for the property owner, said the application covers an after-the-fact driveway expansion, retaining walls, a patio and removal of a shed. Skinnick said the property was flagged for riverfront and that the 100-foot buffer crosses much of the lot; she described plantings added around the perimeter and a stone trench along the driveway to capture runoff. "No work is proposed within flood plane or natural heritage," Skinnick said, and she said the applicant proposed a native warm-season grass mix for disturbed areas.

Commissioner Craig said site review identified roughly 950 square feet of increased impervious surface and requested mitigation plantings to offset that expansion. Craig also asked that a pile of stumps and debris in the northwest corner be removed and asked for species and placement details for the restoration plan. Commissioners expressed discomfort authorizing work to proceed conditionally while restoration details remained unresolved, particularly because the filing is after the fact.

The commission voted to continue the matter to June 22 at 7:05 p.m. and asked the applicant to provide the restoration planting plan (species and locations), debris removal documentation, and confirmation of whether erosion controls are already in place. The commission suggested using the commission's standard plant-placement ratios and offered to share the guidance with the applicant.

No additional enforcement action was recorded in the transcript; the commission's request focuses on mitigation to offset added impervious surface and ensuring erosion controls and debris removal prior to final sign-off.