Arlington Conservation Commission Delays Dudley Street Flood Ruling, Orders Revised Plan

ARLINGTON — January 8, 2026 — Arlington's Conservation Commission continued two Winchester Country Club permit hearings and an active floodplain enforcement order at its January 8 meeting, pressing applicants on flood storage and riverfront protections. Consultant Al Gala of Gala Simon & Associates presented a preliminary remediation plan for 66R Dudley Street that would remove roughly 1,845 cubic feet of fill and install gabion walls, but commissioners including Susan Chapnick and David Kaplan said the proposed 61 cubic feet of compensatory flood storage was insufficient and called for a revised gabion alignment along the rear property line; Environmental Planner David Morgan also flagged an unresolved impervious brick patio and parking area as part of the violation. The matter was continued to February 5. For the Winchester Country Club's Notice of Intent covering fairway and green reconfiguration near Herbert Meyer Brook, Chapnick demanded a vegetated buffer strip along both sides of the brook "from one end to the other" and documentation justifying seasonal mowing up to the bank edge; the commission continued that hearing and a second club facilities filing to January 22 and scheduled a joint site visit for January 21 at 8 a.m. The commission also voted unanimously to sign onto a Charles River Watershed Association comment letter urging the MWRA to strengthen its combined sewer overflow long-term control plan, with Chair Chuck Tironi as signatory.