Woolwich selectmen met with staff members of the Department of Environmental Protection recently to see how the town could change a section of the shorefront on Nequasset Brook. Selectmen want to improve the recreational swimming area there. 

During meetings throughout this month and last, town officials have commented on people using the town's boat ramp to swim from and how it has caused some conflict with boaters. 

Board chairman David King, Jr. spoke optimistically at their regular meeting Aug. 20 about potential plans to clear some of the vegetation, add sand and install a second set of floats. He indicated that their meeting with DEP staff members went well.

“If it all works out, we may have a beach down there,” King said. He said such changes would add ambience to the town park. 

From the standpoint of the state's shoreland zoning regulation clearing vegetation for a public beach “didn't seem to be an issue,” according to Michael Morse from the Shoreland Protection department at the DEP. However, based on rules outlined in the Natural Resources Protection Act, Woolwich officials would need to apply for a permit. “It may depend on how big of a beach they intend on. (The DEP) tend to frown on dumping large truckloads of sand.”

Jarod Woolston from the Land Resource Regulation department said that what selectmen are seeking is not quite as routine, so such a project would not qualify for a streamlined process called, “Permit by Rule.” 

The Permit by Rule allows the clearing of vegetation for smaller, 10-foot-wide projects. Woolston said that based on his meeting with selectmen it seemed as if the project would involve clearing closer to 100 feet of vegetation from the shorefront. Also, bringing in sand disqualifies the project from Permit by Rule.

“We're trying to figure out what sort of permits they would need,” Woolston said. He believes the town would need to apply for an Individual Natural Resourses Protection Act permit, but encouraged selectmen to visit the DEP for a pre-application meeting to talk with a licensor. 

The shoreline is saturated, he said, which could put the area in a wetland category, and the intended work involves removing vegetation in and adjacent to a stream. 

Depending on the project's scope, the permitting process could take between 60 and 90 days.