Richmond Conservation Commission Requires Full Wetlands Permit for West Road Driveway Project

RICHMOND — February 9, 2021 — Richmond's Conservation Commission issued a positive wetlands determination requiring a full notice of intent for a disputed driveway project on West Road and continued five other permit and compliance matters to its March 9 meeting. The unanimous positive determination on the Theodore Miller RDA at 950 West Road came after commission members and agent Shep presented GIS analysis showing the shared driveway crosses a bordering vegetated wetland buffer zone and falls within the 200-foot riverfront protection area of Furnace Brook, with clearing already visible up to a house foundation. A septic upgrade application at 73 Rossiter Road for owner Sally Shavari was continued pending a site visit and a revised plan from Berkshire Engineering's Mike Kulig that moves the leach field uphill and further from an abutting pond — the project is estimated at approximately $25,000. The only outright approval of the evening was a negative three determination for a septic upgrade at 1181 Lenox Road for the estate of George Dix, also presented by Kulig, after a revised plan moved the system nearly entirely out of the stream buffer zone. The ongoing DCR enforcement action on the U-Drive fire tower easement has now accumulated more than $20,000 in fines with no compliance date set.