The Danvers Conservation Commission voted 3–1 to issue an order of conditions for a residential dock, floats and seawall repairs at 46 Riverside Street (DEP file 14-1440), and granted waivers to allow work in the 35‑foot no‑disturb zone and the 50‑foot no‑build zone.

The applicants, Adam and Genevieve Wood, and their consultants described design changes intended to reduce impacts: replacing older timber piles with aluminum trusses to reduce the number of driven piles, specifying flow‑through decking, siting the floats in deeper water to avoid repeated grounding on mud flats, and repairing a deteriorated seawall. Consultant testimony cited a town-commissioned dredging feasibility report and stated the proposal would not obstruct a future wider dredge cut; the Woods' team also said they would move the structure if future dredging plans required it.

Environmental counsel Jamie Medea argued the application met the Conservation Commission's performance standards and that concerns about recreational use of the river are jurisdictionally separate (Chapter 91 and harbor master jurisdiction) from the Wetlands Protection Act and the commission's bylaw. "This project meets all the performance standards," Medea said on the record, noting support from the Division of Marine Fisheries and professional design choices to reduce piles and protect substrate.

Commission discussion focused on the commission's local bylaw standard that presumes docks and piers may have significant or cumulative adverse effects on storm damage prevention, shellfish, fisheries, wildlife habitat, aesthetics, erosion/sediment control, aquaculture and recreation; one commissioner said a longer pier increases the risk of adverse effects, while others noted improvements compared with the existing deteriorated structure. Several neighbors and river users spoke in favor of the project, citing frequent incidents of boats running aground in the nearby shallow area and saying a longer pier reaching deeper water would reduce repeated mud disturbance and improve safe access.

The commission included the Department of Marine Fisheries comments and four specific harbor master recommendations in the conditions (structure identification, maintaining foreshore pedestrian access or installing stairs as needed, navigation/mooring protection and dredging compatibility). The commission approved the order of conditions and waivers; staff advised the applicants that Chapter 91 and harbor master approvals are separate regulatory steps and that the harbor master recommendations will be forwarded to those processes.