Charlton Conservation Orders Engineer Certification in Sunset Drive Elevation Dispute

CHARLTON -- January 8, 2025, Charlton Conservation Commission sets two-week deadline for engineer-certified elevation data at contested Sunset Drive lakeside property. The commission, at its January 8 meeting, confirmed a prior vote requiring the owner of 173 Sunset Drive to submit documentation from an engineer certifying that current site grades match the commission-approved 2018 construction plan, following allegations by an abutter that fill has raised the property several feet above permitted elevations and is channeling stormwater from Sunset Drive across the front of the lot and into neighboring property near Lake Glen Echo. The property owner argued the work is unfinished and that accurate elevations can only be verified through a final as-built survey, saying "right now is not the time to stop me." The commission also closed hearings on two separate matters: an after-the-fact notice of intent for a $27,000 emergency well replacement at 89 Cranberry Meadow Shore Road, and a proposed septic system replacement at 35 Leland Drive using an Eljen low-profile system on a constrained lot with the resource area as close as 27 feet from the leach field.