Pepperell Conservation Commission Clears Horse Farm Driveway, Defers Sand Arena Decision

PEPPERELL -- February 4, 2025, Pepperell Conservation Commission splits horse farm application, clears driveway and defers sand arena. The commission voted unanimously Tuesday to issue a negative determination allowing Laura Dennis of 44 Prescott Street to gravel an existing dirt driveway and install an 18-by-20-foot parking area for her equine-assisted physical therapy practice, while stripping a proposed 75-by-150-foot sand riding arena from the filing entirely. Commission member Pat Rice raised unresolved questions about stormwater runoff and base-material permeability on a site where topsoil removal and possible stone-dust compaction would occur within the 100-foot wetland buffer zone. "With a negative determination we don't have anything that's enforceable and nothing really on paper that kind of ties this all down," one member said. Dennis's representative, Maureen Herald of North Environmental Services, agreed to return under a full Notice of Intent with topographic drawings, a contractor construction sequence, and specific base-material options before any arena work proceeds.