Pepperell Commission Reopens Hearing on Twice-Contested Birch Drive Wetlands Project

PEPPERELL — April 3, 2018 — Pepperell Conservation Commission reopens hearing on Edgestone Properties' contested 20-lot subdivision at Birch Drive Extension. Joe Pesnolo of Hancock Associates presented a redesigned stormwater system — switching from detention basins to infiltration-only management — intended to address the two deficiencies that led DEP to uphold the Commission's prior denial of the project, which lies entirely within the Sucker Brook outstanding resource water watershed. The revised design includes a CDS hydrodynamic separator achieving 80 percent total suspended solids removal prior to infiltration, and an infiltration basin sized to contain storms up to the 100-year event with no active discharge. Commission members pressed the applicant on the adequacy of construction sequencing, the overlap between temporary and permanent stormwater basins on the plans, the sourcing of native plants for a proposed 1,250-square-foot wetland replication area, and a continuing dispute over whether small wet areas on the site constitute jurisdictional wetlands. Kevin Slattery, principal of Edgestone Properties, told the Commission that a project manager and site supervisor would be on-site throughout construction. The hearing was continued to April 17, 2018, when DEP technical review comments are also expected.