Pepperell Conservation Commission Continues Babin Landscaping Permit to August

PEPPERELL — July 14, 2020 — Pepperell Conservation Commission continued a wetland permit hearing for a Hall Street landscaping business and pushed for land acquisition funding at its July 14 meeting. The commission voted unanimously to continue a notice of intent filed by David Babin of Babin Landscaping — which seeks to repurpose the former Conway Chevrolet dealership at 23-29 Hall Street into a retail landscaping operation — to August 4, pending a Planning Board review on July 20. Engineer Jack Basniewski disclosed that the site falls within an Outstanding Resource Waterway designation, requiring relocation of a catch basin within the 50-foot wetland buffer and a 44 percent pretreatment standard for stormwater. Members also approved a certificate of compliance for 17 North Street and debated a restoration plan for a buffer-zone clearing violation at 128 Brookline Street, settling on a two-year 100 percent and five-year 75 percent survival standard for replacement trees and shrubs. In a wide-ranging goals discussion, commission members urged the Select Board to establish a dedicated land acquisition fund, noting the town currently has virtually no money set aside for open space purchases despite the master plan identifying land acquisition as a top resident priority.