Groton Conservation Commission Unanimously Denies Valeria Drive Garage Over Buffer Violations

GROTON -- July 26, 2022, Groton Conservation Commission unanimously denied a garage permit and issued an enforcement order at 12-14 Valeria Drive after discovering an unresolved permit violation from 2020. Commission member Olin Lathrop brought photographs and pulled the 2020 file before the meeting, finding that an addition approved under a Request for Determination of Applicability, with an issuance date of June 10, 2020, had been built inside the 100-foot wetland buffer rather than outside it as the approved plan required. Engineer Brandon Ducharme of Davey Russell, presenting on behalf of applicant Robert Morris, acknowledged he was unaware of the prior violation. The commission voted 5-0 twice, once under the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act and once under the Groton Wetlands Protection Bylaw, to deny NOI DEP 169-1238 for a detached garage that would sit entirely within the 100-foot buffer. The commission also voted unanimously to issue an enforcement order requiring Morris to contact the commission within 14 days to schedule a meeting on the 2020 violation.