Auburn Conservation Commission votes to oppose state bill weakening local wetland authority

AUBURN — June 10, 2026 — Auburn Conservation Commission votes to oppose state housing bill that would weaken local wetland rules. The commission voted 5-0 at its June 10 meeting to endorse the Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions' opposition to Senate Bill S.3064, which would exempt certain priority housing projects from local wetland bylaws and wastewater standards more stringent than state Title V requirements, and to forward that endorsement to the House Ways and Means Committee. Chair Michael Garland called the bill's potential impact significant, saying it would weaken authority "not only of the Conservation Commission or local conservation commissions, but also local boards of health." The board also continued public hearings on Mast Futures LLC's proposed 17,860-square-foot indoor golf simulator at 615 Southbridge Street and a Providence and Worcester Railroad vegetation management plan to June 24, and closed a hearing on a farm ditch at 39 Prospect Street after staff and a wetland consultant agreed the feature lacked two of the three characteristics required for jurisdictional status under state law. A recurring soil erosion enforcement order at 47-49 Rockland Road — where certified mail to the property owner had been returned twice to the commission — was continued to June 24 with a DEP superseding-order site visit scheduled the following morning.