Conservation Commission approves Tufts stormwater permit for 152-space parking expansion

Conservation · Meeting of May 5, 2026

Grafton Conservation Commission approves Tufts University stormwater permit for 152-space parking lot expansion. Chair Sandy Brock recused herself at the May 5 meeting because her firm does paid engineering work for Tufts, leaving Commissioner Amira to serve as acting chair for the hearing on the Lot S expansion at One Ridge Road, part of the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine campus at 200 Westboro Road. Applicant engineer Wayne Bellick of Lane Design Collaborative said the three-basin system removes 63 percent of phosphorus and 93 percent of total suspended solids, both exceeding state redevelopment standards, and that peer reviewer Graves Engineering had issued "a clean bill of health." The commission added a fifth permit condition requiring all seed mixes to be native species verified by conservation staff, after acting Chair Amira pressed Bellick on whether wildflower and rain garden plantings would be truly native to New England.

The board also approved a conservation land use authorization allowing a licensed pesticide applicator to apply glyphosate herbicide directly to oriental bittersweet stems at Merriam Road Conservation Area, with the closest application point approximately 400 feet from any wetland resource area.

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Source: the Conservation meeting of May 5, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.