Carver Conservation Commission Clears Solar Farm, Lifts Cranberry Bog Enforcement Order

CARVER — May 6, 2026 — Carver Conservation Commission resolves months-long cranberry bog enforcement order and approves solar expansion in a marathon 11-item session. The commission voted unanimously Wednesday to lift an enforcement order against AD Makepeace Company at Zero Golden Pond Road and issue a negative five determination on a related wetland applicability request, accepting the company's argument that squaring off cranberry bogs qualifies as an exempt agricultural activity under 310 CMR 10.042 C1 D, a position backed by town counsel Amy Quessel of KP Law. The Community Land and Water Coalition, which originally filed the RDA that triggered the January enforcement action, argued that the work had filled bordering vegetated wetlands and altered USGS-mapped perennial streams, but commissioners said a site visit that day alleviated their earlier concerns. Separately, the commission voted 4-0 to approve a Notice of Intent for a solar array expansion at Zero Fuller Street, filed by Beals and Thomas on behalf of a farm operator retiring upland cranberry bogs from production, after the Carver Planning Board approved the project April 28. An abutter at 19 Rochester Road, David Piper, told the commission his well already exceeds manganese and iron drinking-water limits by a factor of six and that the proposed septic system may be within 150 feet of his well — the hearing was continued to May 20.