Scituate commission continues Bailey���������'s Island house plan after peer-review requests

Caroline Reese of Merill Engineers presented a revised plan on behalf of applicant Kathleen Creel for a new single-family dwelling on Zero Bailey's Island, reporting the house was shifted toward the lot center and is now outside the 50-foot salt-marsh buffer and land subject to coastal storm flowage. The plan removes an existing 7,200-square-foot tennis court, replaces it with conservation grass and planting, and routes access via a gravel driveway, the applicant said.

Commissioners noted they received a peer-review letter from Lucas Engineering with recommendations to clarify the natural coastal-bank and top-of-bank mapping, add conservation markers near the restored tennis-court area, confirm long-term stability and cross-section details for the gravel access, and provide additional erosion-control and utility-connection details. Caroline Reese said the team would address the review comments and could increase mitigation in selected areas.

Commissioner Eric pressed for a clearer count and stronger tree mitigation: commissioners estimated about 31 trees proposed for removal and said only nine replacement trees plus shrubs and seed mix felt insufficient without specified sizing and spacing. Neighbor and recent resident David Henenberg of 24 Wood Island Road asked whether access was over private land subject to an easement and how construction traffic and road wear would be managed; the applicant said they would review easement documentation and propose construction maintenance measures.

Commissioners also discussed whether the proposed mitigation(planting strips, invasive-species removal and added buffer width) adequately offsets the additional disturbance of moving the house onto previously less-developed area. The project team acknowledged Lucas Engineering's comments and said they would provide a formal reply and updated plans that show tree mitigation counts, planting specs, driveway cross-sections and easement documentation."

The commission voted to continue the application to July 20 to allow time for the applicant to respond to peer-review comments and to circulate revised plans and mitigation metrics to the commission. The continuance vote was unanimous among members present.

Next steps: the applicant will submit formal responses to Lucas Engineering's comments, provide a clearer mitigation planting schedule and sizes, and supply any easement or access documentation for the commission to review at the July 20 meeting.