Reading Conservation Commission Issues Orders for Recal Center Site, Approves Sports Court
Reading Conservation Commission clears Recal Center project and two residential wetlands cases in marathon session. Vice Chair Martha Moore presided at the September 10 meeting in place of Chair Brian Bowe, who participated remotely. The commission voted 6-0 three times to finalize orders of
Conservation · Meeting of September 10, 2025
Reading Conservation Commission clears Recal Center project and two residential wetlands cases in marathon session. Vice Chair Martha Moore presided at the September 10 meeting in place of Chair Brian Bowe, who participated remotely. The commission voted 6-0 three times to finalize orders of conditions and a stormwater permit for the town's Recal Center at zero East Haverhill Street off Simons Way, approving 11 granite bounds along the 25-foot wetland buffer line and requiring native evergreen screening along the pickleball court, whose sports lighting does not meet dark sky standards, on an as-needed basis.
A $300 Conservation Commission fund donation and a revised native planting scheme anchored the 6-0 approval of a garage addition at 57 Longwood Road. A negative determination, allowing a 34-by-64-foot backyard sports court with dark sky compliant lighting, was issued unanimously for 553 Haverhill Street applicants Timothy and Jean Procopio, with debris removal and erosion control required as conditions. A residential tree preservation bylaw modeled on Arlington's ordinance was presented to the commission but drew no vote, with members flagging concerns about diameter-replacement math, crowding, and enforcement capacity before requesting the draft bylaw text.
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Source: the Conservation meeting of September 10, 2025, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
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