Conservation Commission flags wetlands bank threat at Vineland Avenue, orders homeowner to appear

EAST LONGMEADOW -- January 28, 2026, East Longmeadow Conservation Commission closes two long-dormant compliance cases and flags a new wetlands threat on Vineland Avenue. The three-member commission, Chair Anthony Zampuchini, Elizabeth Stoen, and Tom O'Brien, voted unanimously at its January 28 meeting to issue complete certificates of compliance for 66 Smith Avenue (original order from 1984) and 5 Albano Drive (2012 order), and continued a notice of intent for a proposed home at zero Prospect Street to February 25 pending an Eversource review. The commission issued a Negative 1 and Negative 4 determination for 12 Farmers Circle in the Happy Acres subdivision, finding the site outside wetlands jurisdiction. The meeting's most serious matter was a staff monitoring report on 30 Vineland Avenue, where a contractor hired by the homeowner cut trees more than 2 feet in diameter on a steep bank abutting a stream in October, leaving the slope bare and debris in the waterway; staff described the bank as roughly 20 feet from the home's foundation and warned of erosion and potential stream damming. The commission directed staff to summon the homeowner to the February 11 meeting and indicated it will likely require a professional restoration plan.