Conservation Commission rejects warehouse buffer variance, holds firm on 50-foot rule

WEST BRIDGEWATER — May 5, 2026 — West Bridgewater Conservation Commission declines warehouse buffer variance, denies 360-degree truck access at 40 United Drive. The commission told Nate Hershner of Polar Engineering, appearing informally on behalf of a logistics firm constructing warehouses at 38 and 40 United Drive, that it would not approve an access drive within the 50-foot wetland buffer even as a prospective tenant's lease remains contingent on full perimeter truck circulation. Members cited consistent past rulings, including a recent rejection of a school-related buffer request of roughly 1,500 to 2,000 square feet, as grounds for holding the line. Conservation Agent Tim Hayes issued stop-work orders at 99-101 Scotland Street, where an excavator crossed an erosion control boundary into the 50-foot buffer, and at 45 Progressive Street, where a property owner constructed an unpermitted road crossing through a stream and wetland corridor. The commission voted unanimously to issue an order of resource area delineation for Zero Copeland Street, approving a revised wetland boundary plan dated May 4, 2026, and continued the Zero Bryant Street hearing to May 19.