Conservation Commission

The Conservation Commission is composed of nine volunteer members, appointed by the Mayor. The Commission was established to protect and promote Peabody’s natural resources, to protect watershed resources, to protect wetland resource areas, to provide permitting review for proposed projects within resource areas and their buffers, and to coordinate with other town officials and boards on conservation issues that relate to its areas of responsibility.

If your property is within 100-200 feet of wetlands (river, stream, brook, pond, lake, swamp, wet meadow, marsh, etc.) or vernal pool you will most likely have to file with the Conservation Commission.

• (NOI) Notice of Intent is filed by applicant/owner and an Order of Conditions (OoC) is drafted if approved after a public hearing and a vote of a quorum. An NOI is filed for projects an OoC is the permit issued.
• (ANRAD) Abbreviated Notice of Resource Area Delineation (asking for Commission confirmation and agreement to wetlands lines/boundaries, NOT a project) an (ORAD) Order of Resource Area Delineation is drafted after approved by a quorum at a public hearing.
• Request for Certificate of Compliance is submitted when a project is done under an OoC. The Commission would issue a Certificate of Compliance (Partial or Full) if the work is done in compliance with the Order of Conditions. A Partial would be issued if not all work is complete but most work is complete. This is usually only done for certain circumstances (example- Winter time and the house is built. The developer wants to sell the house but the landscaping is not done. A Partial Certificate of Compliance would be issued so they can pass papers. They would need to file for a Full Certificate of Compliance once the landscaping is done). (Certificate of Compliance Checklist)
• (RDA) Request for Determination of Applicability is filed by the applicant/owner and a Determination of Applicability is issued after a public hearing and a vote of a quorum. This is typically for very simple projects that will not affect the resource area (example- Repave existing driveway to same elevation).
• Emergency Certificates (EC) and Enforcement Orders (EO) are issued by Conservation Commission staff only. These documents are issued on an as needed basis. The Commission must ratify both at the next regularly scheduled hearing.
• Extension permits extend the life of an existing Order of Conditions. The applicant/owner needs to request this 30 days before expiration date. Expired Orders cannot be extended.
• Appeal procedure: Once an OoC, Determination or ORAD is issued (time stamped by Conservation Agent) a ten business day appeal period starts the following business day. Since there is a local ordinance, appeals should be made to DEP and the court. Projects cannot be appealed once appeal period has expired.

Forms for filing a Wetlands Permit under the states Wetland Protection Act can be found at www.mass.gov.

All documents can be obtained on MASSDEP’s website, but will not have Peabody ordinance wording on it. 

All documents must include the words “City of Peabody-Wetlands and Rivers Protection Ordinance: Chapter 32,” in the document header. Hand printing or typing is acceptable.

State permit fees are determined by the project type. The categories are listed in 310 CMR10.03(7) fees.

A packet of forms for a Wetlands Permit under Chapter 32 Peabody Wetlands and Rivers Protection Regulations of the City of Peabody can be found at the Conservation Commission office in the Community Development Department.

Included in the packet are the following forms:
1. Filing Checklist
2. Notification to Abutters (under the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act)
3. Affidavit of Service (under the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act)
4. Legal Ad Form (with list of newspaper options/prices are posted in Commission Office).

The Commission will wait until the Department of Public Services and the Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP’s) comments on the application are satisfied before approval.

The Commission typically meets on the second Wednesday of each month. Please contact the Conservation Commission Agent (978.538.5782) for any changes regarding hearing dates and deadlines.

978.538.5782
Lucia.DelNegro@peabody-ma.gov