Public Outreach and Q&A Session on the Proposed Wetlands Protection Bylaw

The West Newbury Conservation Commission will be hosting a public outreach and Q&A session on the proposed Wetlands Protection Bylaw on Monday April 25, 2022 at 7:30 PM at the Town Hall Annex building. The proposed Wetlands Protection Bylaw is an article on the warrant for the upcoming spring Town Meeting to be held on May 14, 2022 at 9:00 AM.

Wetlands and their bordering lands (buffer zones) are valuable community resources that provide essential functions including storm damage prevention, protection of public and private water supplies, and habitat for wildlife. While the state Wetlands Protection Act (WPA) enacted in 1972 provides protection to wetlands and their buffer zones, over 28% of wetlands in Massachusetts have been lost to commercial, agricultural, and residential development between the 1780s and the 1980s and an additional 1,250 acres have been lost between 1991 and 2005. Adopting a local Wetlands Protection Bylaw that is more protective than the WPA will increase community control over activities in or near wetlands and their buffer zones, limit community costs of the degradation of wetlands, and allow for better protection of the functions and values of the community’s wetlands and buffer zones.

The full bylaw text can be reviewed here.