Medford Conservation Commission Approves Ronnelly Road Garage Project With Erosion Conditions

MEDFORD -- March 26, 2025, Medford Conservation Commission unanimously cleared a Ronnelly Road garage reconstruction with erosion and site restoration conditions. The commission voted 4-0 Wednesday to issue a Negative 3 determination of applicability allowing Anne Strickland to demolish a freestanding garage at 32 Ronnelly Road and replace it with an attached garage and bedroom addition, with only approximately 20 square feet of the project falling within the 100-foot wetland buffer zone. Members Craig Drennan and Eric Rexford debated whether an intermittent stream running along the Cross Fells Trail corridor between the property and the mapped wetland polygon was jurisdictional, ultimately declining to reclassify it but adding conditions requiring silt fencing to be installed before demolition begins, seeding of all disturbed areas upon project completion, and storage of all construction debris outside the buffer zone beyond the erosion control line. Environmental Agent Dennis drafted condition language in real time during the meeting, drawing in part from a prior determination issued for the neighboring property's porch addition four years earlier. The three-year determination takes effect once Strickland notifies the environmental agent that erosion controls are in place.