Conservation Commission Requires Notice of Intent for Granite Storage in Pepperell Floodplain

PEPPERELL — March 18, 2025 — Pepperell Conservation Commission votes to require a notice of intent for a proposed granite storage business in a 100-year floodplain. The commission voted unanimously Tuesday to issue a Positive Determination requiring Josh Deegan, owner of Earthscape Landscaping of Groton, to file a notice of intent before storing reclaimed granite blocks at 11 South Road, a site FEMA designates at a base flood elevation of 205.1 feet. Conservation Agent Paula Rice told the board that granite stored at or below that elevation displaces flood volume and triggers compensatory storage requirements under 310 CMR 10.57 — requirements that cannot be met on a parcel entirely within the floodplain. Deegan, a former Groton selectman for 17 years, said the property owner was not willing to fund the required engineering and that he would withdraw from the lease. In other action, the commission continued a public hearing on Maple Leaf Village LLC's proposal to add 26 manufactured homes to a 55-plus community at 6 Mason Street to April 15, pending a Planning Board session set for April 7, and voted unanimously to issue an order of conditions for National Grid Mass Electric's 18-month refurbishment of the 042-5 transmission line, which will replace wooden utility poles with steel monopoles along roughly two and a quarter miles of Pepperell right-of-way beginning in May 2025.