Sturbridge Conservation continues lakefront beach hearing to March

Conservation · Meeting of February 12, 2026

Sturbridge Conservation Commission continues contested lakefront "sandbox" beach hearing to March 5. Members Karsten Stuber, Ed Goodwin and Nick Diablo pressed applicant representative Joseph Bolino of JRB Wetland Consultants over a proposed 25-by-10-foot sand beach and 20-foot stairway at 23 Old Hamilton Road, requiring a waiver from the town's 25-foot no-structure buffer. The town's conservation agent said she'd found no precedent for such a waiver, calling the plan "a giant sandbox," and cited the lake's state-designated critical condition.

The commission approved certificates of compliance for 19 Mashbrook Road, 126 Lake Road and 30 River Road, tabled a years-old sediment enforcement dispute at 30 River Road, and approved a special permit for the annual ice sculpture contest at Riverlands. The agent also warned that new state solar siting rules taking effect October 1, 2026, give the town only a year to tighten local bylaws, with Town Planner Jean Bubon, retiring in August, already drafting revisions.

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Source: the Conservation meeting of February 12, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.