Board reviews draft Canaan Street Lake watershed protections, schedules further review and public hearing

Nick Lavalley led board discussion of a draft Canaan Street Lake watershed protection ordinance, noting questions about the ordinance’s specific thresholds and scope. The minutes recorded discussion points including whether the development threshold should be 20,000 square feet or 10,000 square feet, how to define the 'degree of slope,' and whether the ordinance should apply townwide or only within the water district.

After a lengthy discussion about those policy choices, Nick said he would make a couple of formatting adjustments to the draft. The board intends to examine the revised final draft at a future meeting and then hold a public hearing. No vote on the ordinance itself occurred on July 23; the item remains under review.

The board treated the item as an ongoing policy discussion and did not set a hearing date at the July 23 meeting. The revisions requested are primarily editorial and scope-defining; substantive thresholds and the slope definition will be finalized in subsequent meetings before public notice and a hearing.