Cohasset Conservation Commission Approves 159 Atlantic Ave. Rebuild Over Chair's Dissent

Conservation Commission · Meeting of January 22, 2026

Cohasset Conservation Commission approved a contested home demolition and rebuild at 159 Atlantic Avenue by a 3-1 vote Thursday. Chair Chris McIntyre cast the lone dissenting vote on three separate motions — an Order of Conditions, a 50-foot buffer variance, and a coastal flood zone variance — while Commissioner Tom Bell made each motion and Commissioner Kathy Berigan seconded them. The project, brought by property owner Michael Ryan and represented by attorney Adam Brodsky and engineer Brendan Sullivan of Merrill Engineers and Land Surveyors, proposes razing the existing home and constructing a new residence with a pool, patio, and approximately 3,430 square feet of roof area, with work partially within the 100-foot buffer zone of an intermittent stream.

McIntyre argued that removing impervious surface "does not automatically equate to no adverse impact," while Brodsky countered the project sits in a coastal A zone where filling is permitted and conditions would improve. A stormwater permit passed unanimously, 4-0. As a condition of approval, Ryan agreed to replace a proposed gravel access path within the 50-foot buffer with a native seed mix.

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Source: the Conservation Commission meeting of January 22, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.