Lexington Conservation Commission Orders Captain Parker Arms to Fix Wetland Trash Problem

LEXINGTON -- March 25, 2025, Lexington Conservation Commission issues enforcement order against Captain Parker Arms apartment complex over years of wetland contamination. Voting unanimously at the March 25 meeting, the seven-member commission directed property managers to immediately relocate dumpsters, remove trash from the bordering vegetated wetland, demolish an existing fence that collapsed in the first snowstorm after installation, and erect a new solid barrier at least five to six feet tall along the full wetland perimeter, with a compliance deadline of June 1. Conservation Administrator Karen Mullins said the property management company had stopped responding to correspondence and never submitted a required application, prompting Commissioner Ruth Melick to call for formal action: "It sends more of a message than just, you know, please do something nice for everybody." The order also bars second-generation anticoagulant rodenticide traps within 100 feet of the wetland, after commissioners found one placed approximately two feet from the wetland edge during a recent site visit. The commission separately approved negative determinations for three properties and issued orders of conditions for the Hanscom Field Airport vegetation management plan, 4 Trotting Horse Drive, and 16 Peachtree Road.