Pepperell Conservation Commission Continues Blackstone Street Road Hearing Over Missing Waiver Documents

PEPPERELL — April 9, 2026 — Pepperell Conservation Commission continues Blackstone Street road hearing over waiver dispute, issues one order of conditions. At the April 9 meeting, the commission voted unanimously to continue the Notice of Intent for a proposed private road, stormwater system, and amphibian tunnel on Blackstone Street to April 22, after the applicant's engineer agreed to submit a numbered, written list of waiver requests — something peer reviewer Beals and Thomas had asked for on at least two prior occasions. "What we're not getting is that starting point — 'this is waiver number one, this is waiver number two' — in written form," one commissioner told the applicant. A new two-by-three-foot amphibian crossing tunnel, relocated west of the proposed culvert to keep it dry, and semi-permanent plastic drift fencing with a 10-to-25-year lifespan were presented as design updates. The commission also voted unanimously to issue an Order of Conditions for 41 Mansion Street, approving a septic system replacement and in-ground pool demolition with conditions for dust control and debris management, after neighbors raised concerns about possible asbestos in a pool estimated to date from 1978-1980 and about ongoing excavation on the site. Four individual lot NOIs for the Red Mill on the Charles subdivision at Mechanic and Mill streets were continued to April 22, with commissioners pressing Toll Brothers on retaining wall ownership, buffer placard requirements, and cumulative impact accounting across a project where approximately 34 of 116 lots involve jurisdictional wetland areas.