Pepperell Conservation Commission Approves Canal Street Parking Lot Plan With Swale Condition

PEPPERELL — April 19, 2022 — Pepperell Conservation Commission approves revised parking lot plan at 129 Main Street, adds stone swale condition. The commission voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a Board Team Realty Group parking lot improvement within the Nashua River's 200-foot riverfront area, after engineer Chris Stoddard presented a revised plan removing a previously flagged infiltration basin and reducing impervious surface by 5 percent. Commission member Bob pressed for additional stormwater treatment in the upper lot, leading to an agreement to remove an existing stockade fence and install a shallow stone swale — roughly six inches deep with crushed stone and geotextile fabric — with a paved pathway to preserve pedestrian access. Property owner Michael Blood flagged a buried 911 communications cable beneath the lot, damaged in a prior dig that disrupted Verizon landline service across town, which Stoddard said the six-inch swale depth would not threaten. The commission also unanimously issued an order of conditions for a retaining wall, deck, and shed project at 27 Jewett Street and canceled its May 3 meeting, with the next session set for May 17.