Dover Conservation Commission Continues Miller Hill Enforcement Order, Approves Two Permits

DOVER — October 11, 2023 — Dover Conservation Commission continues complex Miller Hill Road enforcement order while approving two other permits. The commission spent more than two hours at its October 11 Zoom meeting on a draft amended enforcement order covering illegal tree cutting within a bordering vegetated wetland and buffer zone on properties at 12 and 14 Miller Hill Road and 36-38 Farm Street, where cleared trees ranged from 6 to 44 inches in diameter across roughly one and a quarter acres. Attorneys Peter Brooks, Gregor McGregor, and Kate Carter sparred over contractor disclosure requirements, third-party reviewer approval rights, and the commission's assertion of jurisdiction over upland areas beyond the 100-foot buffer, with Chair John Sullivan declining to cede approval authority to outside parties. The commission set a six-week deadline for a preliminary restoration plan and a 90-day completion target, with the goal of planting before the end of the spring 2024 season. Separately, the commission voted unanimously to issue a negative determination of applicability for a well replacement at Six Cullen Road and to approve an ecological restoration project at 125 Claybrook Road — a mechanical hydro-raking effort on a Charles River tributary — with nine amended special conditions after consultant Stacy Manan of Beals and Thomas argued that chemical-use prohibitions should be limited to the 100-foot buffer zone rather than the full 200-foot riverfront area.