Littleton Conservation Commission Issues Enforcement Order Over Wetland Tree Removal

LITTLETON -- January 2, 2024, Littleton Conservation Commission kicks off 2024 with enforcement order and tree-removal scrutiny. The seven-member board, meeting via Zoom on January 2, unanimously issued an enforcement order against Alexander Asman of 161 Tehadawan Road after a tree crew he hired removed at least four trees inside the 50-foot wetland no-disturb zone without a permit, requiring him to submit a surveyed site plan with species and diameter documentation by January 16. The commission also pressed the Littleton Water Department on a well-access road project requiring the removal of 121 surveyed trees, including specimens up to 30 inches in diameter, in a mixed-species forested wetland buffer, with member Sarah Seward warning that "the town as the applicant" should receive no special treatment. Members called for an expanded wildlife survey covering raptors and nesting cavities before any order of conditions is issued, and flagged concerns about stormwater runoff on an 11.8-percent grade road that cannot be salted within the Zone 1 drinking-water protection area. Separately, member Kyle Maxfield challenged the contractor at the 242 King Street wastewater plant to replace unbaffled frac tanks that he said were functioning as pass-throughs rather than sedimentation vessels, with a 7 a.m. site walk scheduled for Thursday.