SAUGUS — After multiple meetings and public hearings, the Conservation Commission made a unanimous motion on Wednesday night to approve the Stocker dog park plans with special conditions.
The meeting began with Christopher Sparages of Williams and Sparages taking a quick moment to update the board members who could not attend the meeting in March before the floor was opened to the public. Sparages, Special Counsel Jessie Schomer and the landscape architect for the project, David Warner, were there to answer any questions as they had no further updates.
Barbara Dewsnap was the first member of the public to speak, expressing her concerns that the plans do not address the areas surrounding the proposed park.
“We haven’t actually discussed anything about the Conservation Commission… The bordering surrounding area, wetlands and marsh as well as the elevation… This project was supposed to decrease the amount of asphalt or concrete currently at the project… Tell us how this is less than what already exists,” Dewsnap said.
This concern is about the walkways that will surround the park for wheelchair accessibility and the pea stone that will be used in the park.
Sparages mentioned that at the last meeting, he had brought calculations to show that it would decrease the amount of asphalt and help with flooding in the area.
Attorney Robert Di Marco of Foster, Walker and Di Marco was there to represent abutters Sharon and Marie Floramo and spoke on some of the key issues that his clients had with the park.
“The questions that have arisen from my clients involve the access to this area. One of the problems that they see is that the development that’s been proposed, while in its own contained form appears to address issues that occur on it, what you’re doing is changing the character of what’s been done,” he said.
Some of the issues he stated were infiltration, dog waste, a lack of waste receptacles and people bringing their dogs through the neighborhood, including people’s yards.
Jeannie Meredith approached the mic next, stating that most of the houses on Stocker Street were fenced, and nobody would cut through yards to get to the park.
“It’s ridiculous. We’ve been listening to this. We’ve been going on and on and on… The goals keep changing. The issues keep changing. They get more ridiculous every meeting,” she said.
Michelle Raponi was there to address her concerns about the safety of the animals, specifically the dogs, and that she felt the area was not the right place, as it was its own ecosystem.
“We have to be careful what we’re putting down there because it is going to be a problem. I don’t think people really understand what lives down there and what the environment is like,” she said.
A few more residents brought forth their concerns, with some asking for the public hearing to continue to the next meeting. Julie Mills stated that DCR had not been aware of the meetings, even though they would be direct abutters and should be given the chance to attend a meeting. However, Commission Chair Paul Petkewich quickly said no to the continuation.
“This has been going on for six months or longer. If anybody doesn’t know about this dog park through the newspapers… I cannot understand how no one would know about this,” Petkewich said.
Schomer was the last to speak, thanking the commission and residents who have spent time coming to these meetings, and that the town was committed to the safety of the park as well as figuring out the best maintenance plans and how to handle certain situations when it comes to dogs and owners behaving poorly.
In the end, the commission voted yes to the approval of the plans. However, a list of strict conditions was given to ensure the plans fall in line with certain laws and acts such as the Mass Wetlands Protection Act.
