The Conservation Commission met on Oct. 28 to review a subdivision site plan for 34 Page Road. Despite the absence of a formal presentation, commissioners quickly raised concerns about inconsistencies in the application paperwork.
“We’ve got two documents for this plan that clearly show wetlands, and we’ve got the application that comes from the Planning Department with zillions of checkboxes on it, and those checkboxes, if I’m reading it right, say there are no wetlands on the property,” said Alternate member Mike Speltz. “There’s no doubt there’s wetlands, but if you look on the application checklist, it’s not there.”
Conservation Chair Marge Badois noted that the plan included local wetland scientist Bruce Gilday, a familiar face to the Commission, suggesting the checklist error was likely an oversight by the applicant. The plan did not appear to directly impact surrounding wetlands.
“My concern was really just that if that was wrong, are there other things wrong that would be of more interest to us?” asked Speltz. “If there are no other concerns, we can just recommend that the Planning Board ensure that the application and the site plan matches.”
Speltz also pointed out that even if the plan avoided wetlands, the buffer zone still needed proper marking – a requirement Londonderry GIS Manager and Comprehensive Planner Mike Bazegian confirmed.
“That’s a requirement of a subdivision; if you have the buffer, you have to mark it,” said Bazegian.
Questions remained about the subdivision’s final outcome.
“Is this just going to be a house lot?” asked Badois.
Given the site’s Agricultural-Residential zoning, a single-family home was considered the most likely result.
The meeting also touched on broader land-use ideas. Resident Ray Breslin referenced Town Council discussions about creating pocket parks – small green spaces on under-utilized land – and asked for the Commission’s perspective.
“I think it’s a good idea, but how do you do that? Does it cost money? Who’s going to maintain them?” Breslin asked. “It can maybe have some connectivity between different areas of town. Does the Conservation Commission have any opinion on pocket parks?”
Badois explained that the concept was still in its early stages.
“The first step is to pick a couple of initial locations and see if we can’t give some general direction and then drum up some volunteers that are interested in actually doing it, because I think these need to be volunteer-based projects,” she said, adding that volunteer participation was likely the “only way” the proposal could succeed.
“I just think we have a lot of areas in town still, if they have access, that would be beautiful areas if they had pocket parks,” said Breslin.