Bellingham Conservation Commission issues orders for Bruce Road septic, opens 8 new subdivision lots

BELLINGHAM — March 26, 2026 — Bellingham Conservation Commission approves septic replacement orders and opens first batch of Red Mill subdivision lot permits. The commission voted unanimously to issue both an order of conditions and a separate enforcement order for 77 Bruce Road, where homeowner George Perkins needs to replace a failed three-bedroom septic system and must also restore roughly 2,400 square feet of riverfront buffer zone cleared without authorization around 2018. Engineer Peter Lyons of Collins Civil Engineering Group presented a revised planting plan showing 2,800 square feet of proposed mitigation — exceeding the one-for-one standard — but commission members pushed back on the proposed highbush blueberry selections and white oak placement near the leaching field, directing Lyons to diversify species with clethra and Virginia sweetspire before submitting a final plan. The commission also opened eight new notices of intent for Lots 8 through 15 of the Red Mill on the Charles development at Mechanic Street and Mill Street, where Toll Northeast is building a 34-lot subdivision; all eight were continued to April 22 after a lot-by-lot walkthrough of maximum composite home footprints within the 100-foot wetland buffer zone. A 1998 certificate of compliance for a commercial property at 115 Menden Road — flagged during a pending property sale — was approved unanimously after Conservation Administrator Hannah completed a site inspection finding the stormwater system intact.