2/27/2003 CONSERVATION COMMISSION Minutes

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Mr. Rogers said his understanding was that the waiver couldn't go below 35 ft. Bob said we have not gone below 35 ft. as a ,natter of course because the by-laws we have on the naturally vegetated buffer strip based on studies that say once you gat below 35 ft. you have minimal value, but virtually all of those studies were actually based upon distances to the reparian wetland areas, not dunes, so it's Bob's judgment that this is a better plan. Jack read from the February 6th ,minutes what Bob said at that meeting regarding the 35 ft. requirement. Bob said he changed his mind after a conversation with Mr. schall because if we were to keep a 35 ft. setback for that small area of grassland, it would not have as ,much value overall on the wildlife habitat as the diversity and distance from human activity as provided in the revised plan. It's a judgment calf. Cass asked if the plan can be revised where it's still Within the 35 ft. and maximize the vegetation by cutting the deck. Michael Talbot said ifwe're not roving the work limit there's no additional value, and the work limit is ,moved by reducing the size of the house or eliminating some of the deck. Elliot said if the patio is removed, we'd be back to 31 ft. IVIS. Turano-Flores said since the last time they were here they asked Donald schall to create a narrative relative to wildlife habitat values and the vegetation planting scheme for this proposal. He has submitted a written narrative for our records. It concluded that the existing grassland habitat that's within the 35 ft. buffer zone from the house right now is too small an area to support grassland type wildlife, wildlife that generally needs larger areas in order to have a significant wildlife value. Therefore} they carne up with a scheme of using our other regulation to create a coastal-type habitat in the area beyond the top of the coastal bank and seaward which Mr. Schall thought would create a more viable habitat than is existing now. The closer grouping of plantings and transplanting the grassy growth will provide a herbaceous cover in this coastal bank area that will be a more friend l y coa tar-environment for wildlife. Ms. Turano-Flores said with that narrative ih hand, they met with Bob Sherman and he thinks it makes more sense, because rather than requiring that the house be moved back, this plan creates almost 70 ft. of a naturally vegetated buffer strip which will create greater wildlife habitat value for this property. Michael Talbot said unfortunately or fortunately for the residents, the abutting properties are between 15 ft. and 2 ft. from the top of the coastal bank now, and that means that 35 ft. area would have even less value. if that were a contiguous area of buffer zone, there would be some value in preserving it. Ills. Turano-Flores clarified that a variance is from a by-law requirement. This is a regulation, and as such there's a waiver permitted in the regulation that is promulgated as a result of the passage of the by-law. The by-law gives the commission authority to pass regulations, and one of them is this naturally vegetated buffer zone of 35 ft. The