As Walden Eco Village began its case before the Zoning Board of Adjustment seeking a special exception for its structures within the wetland overlay zone Monday night, applicant Akhil Garland said he hoped he would be able to move forward with the project soon.
“We remain very excited about it despite our history of it,” Garland said.
The Eco Village has been before town boards since December 2020, when Garland submitted a plan for a subdivision on the property and the town found that existing structures were violating town safety and code ordinances. After months before the Planning Board without progress, that board voted to require the Eco Village applicants to go before the ZBA to request a special exception for the structures within the wetland buffer.
The Eco Village is also on the agenda for next week’s Planning Board meeting, the outcome of which remains uncertain, as the applicants missed the second of two deadlines from the Planning Board to provide a more-detailed site plan “clearly articulating” how all proposed and existing structures will come under compliance with town codes and ordinances going forward.
“It’s been a difficult year with the Planning Board,” said Garland. “We just super want to collaborate. We’re excited about the project. We’re really open to ideas about how to figure this out.”
Garland presented the history of the project, saying that when the structures were first built, there was no requirement for a buffer for wetlands under half-an-acre in size. In 2012, this was changed to require a 50-foot buffer zone, long after the structures were built, Garland said.
He also presented on the uses of the buildings, saying that some are classified as single-family dwellings while others function as a woodshed, a boiler-house building and various chicken coops and other small farming structures. In total, the special exception request points to 15 structures within the wetlands overlay zone.
“These are all structures that were lived in for many years,” Garland said.
He added that the land had already been used in the past, specifically for farming.
“It’s farmland. It’s been farmland. It’s been touched by humans for many years,” he said. “We’re talking about an area that’s been cultivated for a long time.”
Civil engineer Chad Branon and wetland scientist Chris Guida, both with Fieldstone Land Consultants, presented on the project’s scientific impacts. Guida said that according to state guidelines for classifying wetlands, this particular wetland would not be considered “high value,” and was not actually wet for several months out of the year as it undergoes seasonal fluctuations.
Board members asked several questions, including clarifying how many buildings were in the buffer zone, where the pipes were that supplied heat to these structures and whether it was possible that the wetlands could expand into the buffer zone in the future.
Board members did not reach any decision, but decided to participate in a site walk in order to get a better sense of the property. Before continuing the case, they allowed public comment, when abutters and other town residents expressed distaste for letting the project go forward.
Michael Kennedy, an abutter, said the project had grown over time without any oversight, and that allowing the special exception would be too much of a concession and would set a dangerous precedent.
“If we allow things to stay as they are just because they’re there, then what are we teaching?” he said.
Another abutter, Richard Scribner, concurred and said, “Just because it’s there doesn’t mean it should be.”
The case was continued to the ZBA’s May 2 meeting, with a site visit to be conducted in the interim. The Eco Village will also be discussed at the next Planning Board meeting on April 11.