Abington Conservation Commission Flags Regulatory Errors in Summer Street Sidewalk Application

ABINGTON — April 14, 2026 — Abington's Conservation Commission unanimously continued a DPW-filed Notice of Intent for the Summer Street sidewalk and drainage project to May 12 after identifying a string of regulatory deficiencies in the application. Civil engineer Matt Perry of TEC presented the roughly 3,100-foot sidewalk and drainage improvement project on behalf of the Abington Department of Public Works, but commissioners found that the wetland delineation had been conducted in February, a month prohibited under Abington's local bylaw — the third consecutive town project to carry that deficiency, Chair Lynn Mullen said. Members also flagged that the Shumatuscacant River had been listed as intermittent when USGS maps clearly show it as perennial, triggering the state Rivers Protection Act's 200-foot buffer and mandatory replication standards. The commission voted 5-0 four separate times: to seek peer review bids on a disputed wetland line at 272 Presidential Drive, to continue the Summer Street hearing, to issue a formal warning letter to the owner of 22 Helm Street demanding erosion controls and an engineer on record before April 28 or face daily fines, and to approve a Notice of Intent for a 900-square-foot accessory dwelling unit at 65 Block Street.