Conservation Commission Refers Three Old Fall River Road Violations to Town Counsel

Conservation · Meeting of July 7, 2026

Dartmouth Conservation Commission votes to pursue legal action over repeated wetland violations on Old Fall River Road. The commission voted unanimously Tuesday to refer three enforcement orders — covering 700 Old Fall River Road, zero Old Fall River Road, and 600C Old Fall River Road — to town counsel after the property owner ignored cease-and-desist orders and deposited truckloads of rock and fill directly along the Copacut River. Massachusetts DEP Environmental Police had already responded to the site the prior weekend after an abutter called Dartmouth Police.

Chair Michael Kehoe framed the referral as necessary to preserve the credibility of voluntary compliance across town: "Clearly letters from us have gone unheeded, and the activity that's occurring post the issuance of the enforcement order is a complete disregard of the enforcement order." The commission also appointed Kehoe as its representative to a new advisory group supporting the Agricultural Commission's effort to deploy $1.5 million in Community Preservation Committee funds for farmland preservation restrictions.

In the full story:

• Opening Business and Minutes
• Staff Updates
• Wetland Site Inspections and Determinations
• RDA 26-03 — Zero Smith Neck Road and Zero Matters Lane (Cord Grass Research)
• Certificate of Compliance — File 15-2318, One Matters Lane
• Public Hearings — Three Continuances
• The complete report — 2,722 words

Source: the Conservation meeting of July 7, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.