Pepperell Conservation Commission continues 40B apartment complex hearing to November

PEPPERELL -- October 7, 2025, Pepperell Conservation Commission continues two wetland hearings without DEP file numbers, pushing major 40B review to November. At its October 7 meeting, the commission opened a notice of intent from Mass Ave Rentals LLC for a five-building Chapter 40B apartment complex on three combined parcels at 59 Leighton Street and adjacent Lowell Road addresses, immediately west of the Pepperell VFW, but continued the matter to November 18 after finding no DEP file number, incomplete soil testing within several infiltration basin footprints, culvert alignments that do not match the stream channel, and an unresolved PFAS contamination question tied to an August 15 Fuss and O'Neill report on adjacent town property. Conservation Agent Paula Terrasi also flagged what she called "one of the worst Japanese knotweed infestations in town" at the corner of Leighton Street and Reedy Meadowbrook, directly adjacent to the project's proposed compensatory flood storage area. A second, smaller hearing for a garage within the 100-foot buffer zone at 42 Park Street was continued to October 21 after consultant Maureen Harold of Norse Environmental Services was asked to explore redesigning the structure closer to the existing driveway to reduce new impervious surface in the 50-foot buffer zone. A site walk for the 40B project was set for October 24 at 1 p.m. at the VFW parking lot.