Conservation Commission Orders Wetlands Survey at Legacy Stables, Votes to Demolish Lakeview House

CARVER -- September 3, 2025, Carver Conservation Commission sets October 15 survey deadline for Legacy Stables and votes to seek demolition funding for a 175-year-old Lakeview Street house. The commission continued a months-long dispute over horse manure storage on property operated by Elizabeth and Michael Murphy within 200 feet of the Weweantic River, directing the owners to commission a formal wetlands delineation survey by the October 15 meeting or face a potential enforcement order. Conservation Agent Emile told the board that the Murphys' breeding-for-sale horse operation likely qualifies for agricultural exemptions under 310 CMR, complicating the commission's options, though members remained skeptical that horse breeding is the primary business. The commission voted unanimously to pursue two April 2026 town meeting warrant articles: one seeking Community Preservation Committee funding for pavilion and fence labor at the commission-owned 44 Lakeview Street property, supplementing an original $50,000 materials-only CPC grant that is no longer considered sufficient, and a second seeking appropriations to demolish the circa-1850 house on the parcel, which the town's insurer has flagged as a liability and which commission members estimated would cost $400,000 to $500,000 to renovate.