Shrewsbury Commission Clears Beaver Devices, Pine Removal, MassDOT Road Project

SHREWSBURY -- April 21, 2026, Shrewsbury's Conservation Commission approved beaver flow-through devices, cleared a residential pine removal, and issued a MassDOT road order at its April 21 meeting. Health Director Annette Garcia won unanimous approval for installation of wire-mesh beaver deceiver devices at Old Mill Pond and Holden Street, where flooding complaints have accumulated for nearly a decade; the devices will be installed and maintained annually under contract with Beaver Solutions. Jason Fournier of 371 Oak Street received a negative determination to remove five rotting pine trees within the wetland buffer zone, conditioned on leaving stumps at eight feet for wildlife habitat. The commission also issued an order of conditions for Sandra Mulcahy's driveway reconstruction at 63 Old Faith Road, a floodplain project yielding a net gain of 23.75 cubic feet of compensatory storage, and for MassDOT's Route 20 widening from South Street to the Route 9 connector, with a special condition requiring town staff inclusion in construction-phase meetings. The lengthiest deliberation centered on GoVenture Capital Group's continued Notice of Intent for a mixed-use development at 525 Hartford Turnpike, where commissioners pressed the project team on vernal pool construction timing, amphibian exclusion fencing, slope erosion controls, and whether Graves Engineering's ongoing stormwater peer review incorporates the town's more stringent local bylaw; that hearing was continued to May 12.