Marshfield Conservation Commission Ratifies Narrow Airport Cleanup Order, Bars Further Tree Cutting

MARSHFIELD — June 3, 2026 — Marshfield Conservation Commission ratifies limited airport cleanup order after contentious hour-long hearing. The commission voted unanimously Wednesday to authorize debris removal and gate clearing at Marshfield Airport but explicitly prohibited cutting of live trees beyond a single poplar blocking emergency vehicle access on Plymouth Avenue — a sharp narrowing of what airport officials had sought. Building Commissioner Andrew Stewart, who issued a notice of floodplain and buffer zone violation on April 27 after the airport's Marshmaster machine cleared a 35-foot residential buffer zone in April, argued the clearing violated a 2014 Zoning Board of Appeals site plan approval that banned mechanical equipment in the buffer. Airport liaison consultant William Finn of 96 Dog Landing said woody species had grown to within feet of FAA grant-agreement airspace thresholds and that the vegetation management plan — funded at roughly $85,000 through MassDOT — authorized the work, though he acknowledged the plan and the ZBA site plan were never coordinated. The Airport Commission's appeal of Stewart's violation notice remains pending; a meeting with DEP and DCR is set for June 26, with a return to the ZBA expected in July.