Setbacks from wetlands?

[dpg]

I am looking at a waterfront lot on the lake

OK seeing as nobody called you out on it well, I've just got too. Good thing you clarified that the waterfron lot was on the lake and not in the woods. Sorry and now back to your regularly scheduled program.

[birchhaven]

The first step I would think would be to have a soil scientist flag the wetland (if it has not already been done) You said it is wet but not swamp, just being wet does not make a wetland, you need things like certain soils and certain vegetation, and the water . It could be you do not have a wetland just a wet spot. If it is a wetland then once it is delineated then hire a surveyor to put it on your plot plan and they will be able to show the proper offsets. Seems like a lot to do before you buy but it could save you a big headache.

[DickR]

Originally Posted by birchhaven

The first step I would think would be to have a soil scientist flag the wetland (if it has not already been done) You said it is wet but not swamp, just being wet does not make a wetland, you need things like certain soils and certain vegetation, and the water . It could be you do not have a wetland just a wet spot.....

Amen to that advice, with one addition to it. If the specialist flags any of it as "jurisdictional wetland," which would affect what you can do on it when you go for any state permit involving CSPA [edit: that's now SWQPA, for "Shoreland Water Quality Protection Act"], question the determination of this. Better yet, be present when the site visit is made. If the determination is made with a simple surface coring tool, insist on a proper evaluation in that spot, meaning some pick and shovel work.

I say this because such a determination was made on my lot a couple of years back. The rather small area was right in the middle of where the house was to go, and the "jurisdictional wetland" flagging was a real "deal breaker" for the house. Upon actual digging, done with a "second opinion" guy brought in for the dig, what they found (and detailed in a letter to me) was quite different from what the surface coring tool showed. Simply put, the flagged area failed the "soil test" requirement for being "wetland."

[codeman671]

Originally Posted by dpg

I am looking at a waterfront lot on the lake

OK seeing as nobody called you out on it well, I've just got too. Good thing you clarified that the waterfron lot was on the lake and not in the woods. Sorry and now back to your regularly scheduled program.

Waterfront on the lake as in on Lake Winnipesaukee.

Thats what I get for trying to put a quick post out with screaming kids in the background. One was trying to beat the other with the Sword of Gryffindor while the third looked on...