Charlton Conservation Commission Eases Stormwater Rules for Older Subdivision Lots

CHARLTON — July 30, 2025 — Charlton Conservation Commission unanimously overhauled its minor stormwater permit rules to ease the permitting burden on homebuilders in older subdivisions. The Commission voted six times Wednesday, each time unanimously, to amend its Stormwater Rules and Regulations, adopting a new two-part eligibility test that allows a single-family project within a Common Plan of Development to qualify for a minor land disturbance permit — rather than a full major permit with mandatory third-party peer review — if the plan has had no ongoing construction for three or more years and less than one acre of disturbance potential remains. Staff cited a Good Road project tied to a 1991 ANR plan as the case that exposed the gap in the existing rules. The Commission also adopted a new minor permit application checklist requiring an engineer's stamp on disturbance and impervious-surface calculations, added the definition of Common Plan of Development to the regulations' definitions page, and clarified permit titles throughout the document by adding "land disturbance slash" to every reference to the stormwater and erosion control permit.