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Conservation Hearing for Proposed 5-Story Hotel in Hockomock Swamp in Bridgewater
June 13 @ 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm
On Zoom. (COVID restrictions appear to be still in place: “No public [in person] attendance permitted.”)
Bridgewater Conservation Commission hearing for Notice of Intent by Claremont Lakeshore Bridgewater LLC for a 5-story, 110-room hotel in the Hockomock Swamp ACEC, directly across Pleasant St (Rte 104) from “The Nip,” Lake Nippenicket. (Near Rtes 24/104 interchange).
The hotel was approved by the Planning Board, with conditions. But the ConCom could deny the project under both the MA Wetland Regulations and Bridgewater’s Wetland Bylaw. Please read further and consider tuning in to this hearing.
Agenda and Zoom link: https://www.lnaft.org/uploads/1/4/4/3/144391160/conservation_commission_agenda_061324.pdf
The Hockomock Swamp and associated wetlands and water bodies, including Lake Nippenicket, comprise the largest vegetated freshwater wetland system in Massachusetts. The swamp is an enormous carbon sink. It protects water quality, offers recreational and scenic value, and provides natural flood control. (The eastern part of the proposed hotel site is in a high risk flood zone. Removal of vegetation and its replacement by buildings and pavement would greatly increase the flooding risk.)
The entire area of the Hockomock (16,950 acres) is designated an Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC), which elevates performance standards and lowers the thresholds for review.
The wetlands on the proposed hotel site are hydrologically connected to Lake Nippenicket by a stream identified by the U.S. Geological Survey as perennial, but shown on the developer’s site plan as intermittent. (Perennial watercourses require a 200′ no-touch buffer; intermittent require 100′.)
The lake, whose maximum depth is 3 feet, is designated as BioMap Core Habitat (Aquatic Core) by the Natural Heritage Endangered Species Program of the MA Division of Fisheries and Wildlife and the MA Department of Fish and Game. BioMap Core Habitats are defined as “areas critical for long term persistence of rare species…and resilient ecosystems.”
The cumulative environmental impacts of the proposed hotel, and of other phases of planned Lakeshore Center development, have not been fully reviewed nor have plans for later phases been disclosed to the reviewing boards.
The MA Historic Commission states that known historic and archaeological sites in the Hockomock span a period of 9,000 years. The Hockomock has long been considered sacred to the Wampanoag people, as well as providing home and livelihood to them. Disturbance of archaeological sites in ACECs must be promptly reported, and any artifacts returned to the tribe.
For more information: https://www.lnaft.org/
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