Marshfield Conservation Commission Denies Pier Variance for 121 Brand View Road Property

MARSHFIELD -- July 1, 2026, Marshfield Conservation Commission denied a variance for a 135-foot residential pier on Littles Creek and issued a formal enforcement order after a contractor illegally cleared roughly one-third of an acre of trees on town-owned conservation buffer land. The commission voted 4-1 to deny the variance requested by applicant Garland at 121 Brand View Road, finding the proposed pier would exceed the bylaw limit tying pier length to one-half of a lot's water frontage, and then voted to deny the accompanying order of conditions, with one member abstaining on procedural grounds; attorney Adam Brodsky argued on behalf of the applicant that regulations "must be interpreted uniformly" and that the commission had granted comparable variances with less supporting documentation. At 1222 South River Street, Chair Craig Hanifin told owner Mark Bossie and contractor Stephen Johnson Jr. that up to $25,000 in fines plus $300 per day are available under the Wetlands Protection Act, with treble damages possible under state trespass law, after subcontractor JBL Land Clearing felled approximately 40 trees and extensive understory on town property within the buffer zone; Brad Holmes of Environmental Consulting and Restoration will be retained by the town to assess damages and design a restoration plan, at the property owner's expense, with a three-year monitoring program anticipated to follow.