Medford Conservation Commission Ratifies Enforcement Order Against Unauthorized Park Tree Cutter

MEDFORD -- July 6, 2022, Medford Conservation Commission votes to enforce against unauthorized vegetation removal in Riverbend Park. The commission voted unanimously Wednesday to ratify an enforcement order against Leon Monan, a resident identified as having spent months illegally cutting trees and vegetation along the Mystic River pathway in Riverbend Park, an area protected under the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act and a DCR conservation restriction. Conservation Agent Dennis Tarr said he personally confronted Monan in the park on July 5 after a resident reported him actively working with loppers and a saw, and that Monan responded by saying "he would just keep coming back" and that the commission "couldn't stop him." Following consultations with the Medford Police Chief, City Solicitor, and DEP Circuit Rider Alicia Gillen, the commission directed that Medford police hand-deliver the order, which carries $300-per-day fines under the Medford ordinance for continued violations, with potential civil liability for destruction of municipal property if the behavior does not stop. In separate business, the commission voted 3-1 to issue a negative wetland jurisdictional determination for a stormwater swale review at 400 Mystic Avenue filed by Herb Chambers Companies, with member Alexander Pancich dissenting, and voted unanimously to issue a long-overdue certificate of compliance clearing a 1976 drainage order that had been blocking a condominium sale on Hicks Avenue for 46 years.