Easthampton Commission Sends Artist Studio Back for Redesign to Avoid Inner Buffer Zone

EASTHAMPTON — July 13, 2026 — Easthampton Conservation Commission continues artist studio buffer-zone case and clears beaver-blocked culvert emergency. The commission voted unanimously at its July 13 meeting to continue a Request for Determination of Applicability for a roughly 20-by-24-foot artist studio at 26 Nash-Awanek Street, telling applicant Meredith Proverb the structure must shift away from the inner 50-foot buffer zone mandated by the town's newly adopted Wetlands Ordinance before relief can be granted. Member Hal Weeks framed the issue plainly: "Like it or not, you were a test case," adding that compromising on the first application under the new ordinance "jeopardizes the integrity of the entire new ordinance." The commission also voted unanimously to issue an emergency certification authorizing the Department of Public Works to clear debris from a beaver-blocked 36-inch culvert under Everett Street, where accumulated blockage had raised Brickyard Brook to an estimated 12 to 15 feet of impoundment against a road containing a sanitary sewer transmission main; DPW planned to begin work the following morning.