Whitman Conservation Commission Continues Rose Way Wetland Hearing to April 21

WHITMAN — April 7, 2026 — Whitman Conservation Commission continues contested Rose Way wetland boundary hearing and advances a proposed local Wetlands Protection Bylaw toward a May 4 town meeting vote. The commission, led by Chair Sandy Cortez, voted to continue the Abbreviated Notice of Resource Area Delineation for Lot 73-48 — owned by applicant Janelle Rotondo of Ritter Generations LLC and represented by Lawrence P. Silba of Silba Engineering Associates — to April 21 after dozens of Rose Way abutters challenged the delineation process and demanded historical baseline data. The commission separately gave emergency approval for replacement of a collapsed 15-inch outfall pipe at Whitman Middle School. Vice Chair Brian LaPere and member Ed Winnick presented the draft bylaw, which would create a 25-foot no-disturbance zone inside the existing 100-foot buffer, impose $300-per-day violation fines, and establish a local fee schedule — including a $100 surcharge on resource area delineation filings. Whitman is currently one of 135 Massachusetts communities without a local wetlands bylaw.