Conservation Commission Clears Two Pool Projects, Lifts Lakeside Fence Violation

NORTH ATTLEBORO -- July 16, 2024, North Attleborough Conservation Commission lifts a fence violation and clears two pool projects in a busy summer session. The commission voted unanimously five times at its July 16 meeting, issuing a Negative Number Three determination allowing a pool and patio at 2 William Thorpe Circle after engineer Larry Tilton of Tilton and Associates argued that a DEP-flagged "wetland" is actually a municipally owned post-1996 stormwater detention basin not subject to DEP jurisdiction; the board declined to formally rule on that jurisdictional question but required erosion controls as a condition. At 15 Sparrow Circle, the commission waived a roughly $3,000 as-built survey for homeowner Kevin Giovanni's pool, accepting instead a stamped engineer narrative, planting photos, and four wetland emblems along the fence line. The commission also issued a certificate of compliance for 119 Mount Hope Street and lifted a notice of violation against the owners of 170 Bungay Road, who had installed a cedar fence to the edge of a lake, accepting it as an exempt minor activity after the homeowners documented that the fence's final post was submerged only during an exceptional flood in April and May 2024. Chair Kimberly Ciaramicoli announced she will leave the commission in August upon accepting a new position in West Newbury, with succession to be addressed at the July 30 meeting.