Pepperell Conservation Commission Continues 57 East Street Wetland Buffer Hearing to June 6

PEPPERELL — May 16, 2023 — Pepperell Conservation Commission continues wetland buffer waiver hearing for proposed East Street home. The commission heard an initial presentation May 16 from Maureen Harold of North Environmental, representing applicant Ken Cully in a Notice of Intent for a three-bedroom house, deck, well, and septic system at 57 East Street — a 1.63-acre parcel lying entirely within the 100-foot buffer zone of a bordering vegetated wetland, with the closest proposed work just 31 feet from the boundary. Because the lot predates the town's May 6, 2002 Conservation Commission bylaw — it was Planning Board-endorsed in May 1994 — the applicant is seeking a waiver from the 50-foot no-disturb standard that the commission said it has never granted for post-bylaw lots and successfully defended in Land Court. At least one commissioner stated outright opposition: "I understand it predates the bylaw and that's the only thing that's saving this house right now, and to me that doesn't justify it." The hearing was continued to June 6 pending receipt of a DEP file number; the National Heritage program has already cleared the project for rare-species impacts.