Dartmouth Conservation Commission Declines Lead Role in Reese Site Enforcement

DARTMOUTH — February 10, 2026 — Dartmouth Conservation Commission deferred action on two contested applications and declined an enforcement role at the long-troubled Reese Hicksville Road site at its February 10 remote meeting. Chair Michael Kehoe and four commissioners voted unanimously on all business, continuing the public hearing for a new single-family home at 80 Horse Neck Road — DEP file 15-2814 — to February 24 after conservation staff Eduardo Fortes flagged concerns about retaining wall stability and secondary wetland impacts, and after roughly eight written abutter objections were admitted into the record; resident Gregory Clear urged outright denial, saying construction near the nitrogen-stressed Slocum River is "an abdication of your responsibility." The commission also continued an after-the-fact restoration filing for 866 State Road to March 10, citing unresolved differences between two competing wetland delineations and inadequate planting density calculations. On the Reese site, Kehoe argued that with no independent complaint and no recent site access, the commission would be "crushed procedurally" in any enforcement action, and the board unanimously voted to leave the matter to the state Department of Environmental Protection. The commission did issue two certificates of compliance — a partial one for 17 Carroll Terrace and a complete one for 408 Flag Swamp Road — and voted to bring revised wetland regulations, including a consolidated $500 filing fee, to a public hearing on February 24.