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.