Carlisle NRC approves country store redevelopment, boardwalk, and sidewalk permits

CARLISLE — June 3, 2026 — Carlisle's Natural Resources Commission approved three notices of intent and issued two negative determinations at its June 3 hybrid meeting, including a green light for the redevelopment of the Concord Country Store LLC property at 166 Commonwealth Avenue. Chair Jim Smith, leading his first NRC meeting, presided over a 5-0 vote on the country store project, which also holds Planning Board conditional approval and faces a Zoning Board of Appeals hearing June 11; applicant's engineer John Cusick of Bowler Engineering said demolition could begin "in the next 45 days." A pedestrian boardwalk at 107X Lowell Road filed by the Concord Land Conservation Trust received its order of conditions after peer reviewer GPI confirmed "no rise" in floodplain elevation; the commission added a new condition requiring the applicant to submit a plan to capture aluminum shavings during pile drilling. The Walden Street sidewalk for the Town of Concord Engineering Division also cleared, with commissioners requesting replacement of a 16-inch American elm slated for removal. The commission voted 5-0 to find no substantial conflict of interest in the continued service of two Warner's Pond Management Committee members who are direct abutters, with the critical drought declared by the state EEA on May 22 and an imminent one-day-per-week lawn-watering restriction providing a backdrop to Director Delia's environmental update.