Pepperell Conservation Commission Continues Mill Street Redevelopment Hearing to July

PEPPERELL -- June 6, 2023, Pepperell Conservation Commission continues high-profile mill site hearing while approving two residential projects. The commission voted unanimously June 6 to continue the public hearing on a Notice of Intent filed by Green 1A Investments, LLC for redevelopment of the former Pepperell mill at 23 Mill Street, proposed as a two-story office and video production facility for online automotive instructional company 1A Auto, until July 11, pending a DEP file number and unresolved questions about the applicant's claim of 126,278 square feet of degraded area. Conservation Agent Paula Taurasi challenged the characterization, arguing that the commission's 2014 order agreed only that the site was "previously developed," not that vegetated areas with topsoil constituted degraded land under 310 CMR 10.58.5, and that the proposed restoration targets areas "where there's already shrubs and topsoil and trees." Member Pat Swaine raised concerns about piecemeal review of a larger parcel and flagged state-listed plants in the proposed landscaping plan. The commission also issued unanimous orders of conditions for a single-family dwelling replacement at 56 Jewett Street and a new dwelling at 57 East Street, and issued a negative determination allowing the town DPW to realign the central rotary sidewalk away from an adjacent wetland resource area.