Manchester Conservation Commission opens Shingle Hill hearing, authorizes peer review of 136-unit project

Conservation · Meeting of June 30, 2026

MANCHESTER-BY-THE-SEA — Manchester Conservation Commission opens first hearing on 136-unit Shingle Hill development and authorizes peer-review search. The commission heard an initial presentation on a Notice of Intent filed by SLV School Street LLC for a three-story, approximately 92,000-square-foot residential building on a 23-acre parcel at 0 School Street, a project reviewed solely under the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act because it holds a Housing Appeals Committee comprehensive permit under Chapter 40B. Scott Goddard of Goddard Consulting told the commission that 89 percent of buffer zones would remain undisturbed and that stormwater systems are sited more than 100 feet from all six certified vernal pools, while civil engineer Carlton Quinn said the design uses Cornell extreme precipitation rates of 8.8 inches for the 100-year storm, 10 percent above state standards.

Attorney Dan Hill, representing the Manchester Essex Conservation Trust, told the board that "over seven acres of the site will be clear cut" and that a water budget analysis for the vernal pool watershed has not yet been submitted. The commission voted 5-0 — with Commissioner Gordon Turner recused as an abutter — to authorize a search for a peer reviewer focused on stormwater management and vernal pool protection; Conservation Administrator Bethany Barstow has contacted VHB, Weston and Sampson, CDM Smith, Oxbow Associates, and Espillion. The commission also unanimously approved an Order of Conditions for a one-foot seawall raise at 18 Boardman Street and issued a negative determination allowing a temporary bronze mermaid sculpture called Atlantis to be placed in Reed Park pending a Chapter 91 offshore permit.

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• Who Was There
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• The complete report — 4,372 words

Source: the Conservation meeting of June 30, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.