Scituate Conservation Commission Rejects 42 Crescent Mitigation, Weighs Enforcement

SCITUATE — February 2, 2026 — Scituate Conservation Commission stalls on 42 Crescent enforcement while closing two residential hearings. The commission, meeting virtually on February 2, voted unanimously to close hearings and issue orders for a home addition at 28 Hadley Road — conditioned on replacing a removed tree with a native species — and for a new single-family home at Zero Bossy Lane, where a revised mitigation package added 12 native trees and a restricted mowing schedule. The most contentious business centered on 42 Crescent, where an applicant under an active enforcement order built a larger patio, an expanded driveway, and a deck beyond what had been approved, with portions inside the 50-foot coastal buffer, then proposed matching the unauthorized square footage with plantings. Members rejected that as insufficient, with one member saying the baseline should be "tear up the patio that wasn't approved, remove all of the driveway that wasn't approved," and another calling it "a problem project from day one." The commission, which has issued a single $200 fine to date, directed staff to relay members' dissatisfaction to engineer Grady Engineering and bring the applicant back with a new proposal at the March 2 in-person meeting.