Deerfield Conservation Commission Approves Cross Street Ranch House With Erosion Controls

DEERFIELD — April 13, 2026 — Deerfield Conservation Commission clears 1,400-square-foot ranch house on Cross Street despite neighbor flooding concerns. The commission voted 4-0 on April 13 to issue a Form 2 Negative 3 Determination for applicant Jeremy Ober's proposed single-family ranch at 0 Cross Street, finding the parcel jurisdictional under the Wetlands Protection Act due to a hydrologic connection to Sugarloaf Brook but concluding the project does not require a full Notice of Intent. Chair Peter Law and Conservation Agent Tim Eve-Cowles, who conducted a site visit April 9, said the western corner of the lot falls within the 100-foot buffer zone of a wetland delineation accepted during a prior Sugarloaf Brook proceeding. Three neighbors — Victor Waryas of 45 Eastern Avenue, Jen Healy of 5 Cross Street, and Robert Greenspan near the Cross Street-Eastern Avenue intersection — raised concerns about underground agricultural pipes, chronic lot flooding, and the risk that a foundation built during a dry year would displace water into neighboring yards in wet years. Eve-Cowles cited 310 CMR 10.056(l)(1), which exempts single-family dwellings from stormwater management requirements, limiting the conditions the commission could impose; erosion controls drawn from Deerfield's Standard Order of Conditions are required before any ground disturbance begins.