On July 22, almost the entire neighborhood of Sunrise Avenue, Ester Avenue, Valley View Drive, and Stone Ridge, comprising 38 homes, was present for the hearing of the Greenfield Conservation Commission regarding a two-phase development project 200 feet from the banks of the Connecticut River called Stone Farm Lane. Our new Sunrise Neighborhood Coalition was there to express its concerns over plans from two separate developers to build 34 dwelling units — mostly high-cost condos — on land leased to them by a land trust, adding 31,553 square feet of impervious surface to the site.
Many people in Greenfield may be unfamiliar with our neighborhood, tucked away on the eastern side of the French King Highway, near the end of the walking trails that span the ridge from the Poet’s Seat Tower in Rocky Mountain City Park.
A land trust has leased 32 acres of land to two separate developers: Phase 1 is Shelburne Falls builder Noble Homes, proposing 22 condo dwellings. Phase 2 is the Valley Housing Co-op, which has filed nothing yet with the Conservation Commission, but it is shown on site plans as 12 more residential units. The land is owned by the Valley Community Land Trust, a non-profit corporation based in Colrain.
Our Conservation Commission administers Greenfield’s Wetlands Protection Act. These five members are appointed, not elected, by voters. The commission’s job is to “control activities likely to have a significant or cumulative effect on ‘jurisdictional areas’ like wetlands, vernal pools, buffer zones, riverfront areas” — all of which are located on this parcel. The entire project is in a buffer zone, and the commission under our local wetlands bylaw can exempt this parcel from the 25-foot, no-disturb zone. The other impacts of this project are along the existing driveway, and a retention basin has to be created for storm water management. The Connecticut riverfront encroaches on the northeast corner of the site, and 1/7th of an acre of buffer zone will be permanently disturbed.
This site is “Priority Habitat 2084” under the National Heritage Endangered Species Program (NHESP), which has identified three threatened vascular plants “warranting further investigation.”
The commission allowed the applicant to hire its own biological surveyor, but was not willing to use its regulations requiring an applicant to pay for the costs of “specific outside consultants,” like engineers and wildlife biologists. We asked the commission to hire an independent botanist to look for threatened plant species. The applicant’s engineer said he had no problem having a “peer review” done. The commission raised issues with the storm water report, but a peer review of that report has not been requested yet.
Neighbors also testified that this parcel is an “Estimated Habitat” that may have state-listed wildlife protected under the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act (MESA). We have photos of this wildlife corridor visited by bears, deer, bobcat, and many other animal species as a pathway to the river. Thirty-two houses will impact wildlife habitat, feeding, and nesting patterns. The Mass Division of Fisheries prohibits the take of state-listed species, and the degradation or destruction of their habitat.
How many trees in this forested area will be cut down to build these houses, and what impact that will have on carbon sequestration? No work can start until the NHESP gets the information it needs to make a “No Take” decision for endangered species. That information should be verified by independent surveys, not by the developer.
This is also a partial “segmented” proposal that entirely leaves out phase 2 of the project under the Valley Housing Co-op. To measure the full impact of this project the commission should insist that the co-op present its full plans at their August meeting. The MESA review does not allow projects to “evade or defer” their project by making it not appear to be “part of a larger common project or scheme.”
The applicant is proposing that sewage from all these dwellings be pumped uphill by a new pumping station. One of our neighbors, an experienced plumber, noted that the pumping design details are still “under development.” Such a system could cost several million dollars to operationalize. The entire Stone Farm Lane will have to be ripped up. An independent peer review should be conducted on the sewage design viability.
Many stones are yet unturned with this Stone Farm Lane development proposal. When it gets to the Zoning Board of Appeals in September, there will be more rocky roads ahead.
Chris Ethier and Denham Lunt are homeowners and members of the Sunrise Neighborhood Coalition.