Scituate Planning Board Holds Firm on Stormwater Permit Sequencing at Tilden Street

SCITUATE -- June 25, 2026, Scituate Planning Board holds the line on stormwater permit sequencing for a stalled four-lot residential project. Attorney Murray Steve Gard appeared before the board to argue that his client's 48 Tilden Street development, approved for a stormwater permit April 28 and secured with a $20,000 cash bond, should be allowed to install erosion controls, remove trees, and rough-grade the site before obtaining a foundation permit, septic approval, and activated NPDES permit, calling those steps pre-construction activities with no nexus to stormwater protection. The board's planner, identified as Karen, countered that all site work constitutes construction under the board's consistently applied standard and cited a new Town Meeting site-preparation bylaw passed precisely because applicants had been clearing sites without authorization. The board reached a working resolution: once a foundation permit and curb-cut permit are in hand and the NPDES permit is activated, a pre-construction conference will be scheduled and work may proceed. In liaison business, a board member reported that the Select Board had adopted a four-page outdoor dining policy in May and, relying on Town Counsel's advice, had allowed outdoor seating at Cafe Verde despite two prior Planning Board denials on parking and pedestrian-safety grounds, a jurisdictional conflict the board agreed to investigate.