Members

Lora Wade
Paul Waite

Meetings

No regularly scheduled meetings; meetings are scheduled as required.

Contact the Conservation Commission

Office: (413) 354-7760
Fax: (413) 354-2268
Lora: (386) 506-1343 or [email protected]
MA DEP Circuit Rider WM District – Mark Stinson: (413) 961-9583 or [email protected]

Chester Conservation Commission utilizes Mass eDEP Online Permitting, Reporting, and Compliance Filing for most of our community’s needs. This is to ensure your application(s) are timely, complete, regulatory reviewed with local authority approval IAW Federal, State, Town local bylaws, jurisdictions, and contracts.

To find out more about what you will need to submit an application/permit, please follow the highlighted links below. Any further information or questions are to be directed to the Conservation Commission and/or our designated MA DEP WM Circuit Rider.

Don’t know what forms to use and/or need a Transmittal Number, click on Permitting Assistance MassDEP Forms. Please note transmittal numbers are required for every application/permit submitted.

RESOURCES

• MA Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR)
• MA Department of Conservation & Recreation (DCR)
• Other MassDEP applicable permits and pertinent information can be found at MassDEP ePLACE Permits Available – Mass.gov and Wetland Information/Education at Wetlands Information – Mass.gov.

PROCESS

  1. Once your application is submitted with a DeP Transmittal number that has been issued, obtain a certified list of abutters from the Town Assessors Office that are within 300 feet of the property. Abutters will need to be notified via certified mail 10-14 days prior to any scheduling of a ConCom meeting and prior to any work to be conducted in accordance with the provisions of 310 CMR 10.05(4)(a).
  2. Public Notice will be submitted by the Conservation Commission to The Country Journal for publication with all applicable information. It is the payer’s responsibility to include that fee with the submission of application(s). Fee(s) are provided by ConCom to payor(s).
  3. Submit 2 (two) copies of all forms, include photocopies of all certified mail certificates for each abutter AND all applicable fees paid via check or money order to: Town of Chester, CC: Conservation Commission, 15 Middlefield Road, Chester, MA 01011-9733.
  4. Once received, the Conservation Commission will then set the meeting place, time, date. All attempts will be made to accommodate schedules, ultimate discretion will default to the acting Commission Chair/Administrator.

Additional Helpful Resources

• Farmland Information Center: Farmland of Local Importance (FOI), Conservation Agriculture Easement Program, Land Succession Planning, and more!
• Chester has been designated for Farmland of Local Importance as of July 2023, please contact us to find out more and ways to protect our Farmlands!
• Farming in Wetland Resource Areas, A Guide to Agriculture and the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act, 1996, 2005.
• Guidelines on Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act Provisions Regarding the Application of Herbicides Along Rail Lines (Mass.gov)
• Floodplain Management (Mass.gov): Find out ways to educate, inform and protect your land from flooding.
• Massachusetts Land Court Rules, Standing Orders, Manual, Guidelines
• Conservation Finance Network – Wildlands & Woodlands

Fee Schedule

(separate from State Filing Fees, Newspaper Public Notice and Potential Use of Consultants)
Notice of Intent (NOI)

  • $100 – work on single family lot; addition, pool, etc.; site work without a house; control vegetation; resource improvement; work on septic system separate from house.
  • $250 – construction of single family house; parking lot; electric generating facility activities; control vegetation in development.
  • $1000 – site preparation (for development) beyond Notice of Intent scope; each building (for development) including site; hazardous cleanup.

Abbreviated Notice of Resource Area Delineation (ANRAD): $1 per square foot/$100 min/$1000 max
Request for Determination of Applicability (RDA): $75
Certificate of Compliance: $50
Site Visit (separate from NOI/RDA/ANRAD/Certificate of Compliance): $50

NOTE: All fees are subject to change. Fines/Penalties, Separate from State Filing Fees/Newspaper Filing Fees/Potential Use of or Hiring of Consultants are not included. Please check with the local permitting authority for further information. Forms are to be submitted to the Hampden County of Deeds, please contact appropriate department for further information. All checks are to be made payable to Town of Chester: Conservation Commission.

About the Conservation Commission

In 1957 Representative John Dolan of Ipswich filed a bill in the Legislature which became the Conservation Commission Act (G. L. Chapter 40 §8C). The Conservation Commission Act (HB§18.9) enabled Massachusetts municipalities to establish Conservation Commissions through a vote of each local legislative body (town meeting or city council). During 1958, 12 towns accepted their provisions and established Conservation Commissions. Now, every city and town in the Commonwealth has a Commission. Once a Commission is established, the municipality may not abolish it because the statute does not give it that power.

The duties and responsibilities of a Conservation Commission are spelled out in the Conservation Commission Act (G. L. Chapter 40 §8C). Under this, a municipal Conservation Commission is the official agency specifically charged with the protection of a community’s natural resources. A Conservation Commission also advises other municipal officials and boards on conservation issues that relate to their areas of responsibility. Chapter 40 §8C authorizes Conservation Commissions to inventory the municipality’s natural resources and to prepare relevant maps, plans and associated data. Open Space and Recreation Plans are therefore coordinated and carried out by the Conservation Commissions. These important documents are a prerequisite for securing Self-Help (grants/funds) monies for open space/land acquisition and protections. Conservation Commissions were given responsibility since 1972 for administering the Wetlands Protection Act outlined in 310 CMR 10.00: Wetland Protection Act Regulations. Thus, the Commission serves the community in a regulatory as well as a conservation capacity under this law/regulation. Read more in depth about Protecting Wetlands in Massachusetts.

RESOURCES/SOURCES
• John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation Management, and Recreation Act
• About Conservation Commissions in Massachusetts
• Town of Chester Rapid Recovery Plan, 2021
• Town of Chester MVP Community Resilience, 2021