Bellingham Commission Continues Blackstone Street and Bruce Road Wetland Hearings

BELLINGHAM — March 11, 2026 — Bellingham Conservation Commission continued two major wetland hearings and raised new environmental concerns at its March 11 meeting. The commission voted unanimously to push both the 77 Bruce Road septic-and-tree-clearing notice of intent and the Blackstone Street road infrastructure notice of intent to March 25, citing unconfirmed wetland boundaries, pending Board of Health variances, and unresolved alternatives analysis. Peer reviewers Andrew Gorman and Tom Molak of Beals and Thomas challenged the applicant's claim that Blackstone Street reconstruction qualifies as a minor exempt activity under the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act, flagged the location of stormwater basin number three as potentially too close to a delineated wetland at elevation 289 to 291 feet, and called for a clearer itemized list of bylaw waiver requests. Commission members pressed Wall Street Development Corporation representative Lou Petroi on whether proposed amphibian tunnels and Cape Cod-style berms adequately protect a mapped vernal pool, and one member raised the unaddressed question of road salt salinity impacts on that pool — a concern the peer reviewers said had not yet appeared in any submitted report.