Carver Conservation Commission Directs Legacy Stables to Move Manure Pile From Wetland Buffer

CARVER -- October 15, 2025, Carver Conservation Commission tells Legacy Stables manure pile must move outside 65-foot wetland buffer. A survey by JF Engineering, presented at the October 15 meeting by engineer Bill Madden, found the stable's manure storage pile sits as close as 45 feet from the inland bank of the Weeweantic River, 20 feet inside the commission's minimum setback, and that a bordering vegetated wetland has migrated to within the buffer zone, apparently because composted manure has historically been pushed into the area. Owners Michael and Liz Murphy, who operate the roughly 35-to-40-horse stable in Carver while living in Wisconsin, committed to moving the pile to outside 65 feet by the following day and agreed to stake the full buffer zone after a scheduled first-week-of-November manure pickup. The commission, declining to issue a formal enforcement order given the owners' cooperative conduct, set a November 19 hearing date for a permit application, likely a Request for Determination of Applicability, covering a proposed long-term containment solution, with a commission site visit planned for the first week of November once the buffer is marked in the field.