Pepperell Conservation Commission defers Kirin Crossing permit extension, demands wetland reflagging after 12 years

PEPPERELL — September 6, 2016 — Pepperell Conservation Commission defers a 12-year-old permit extension and issues a historic partial dam compliance certificate. At its September 6 meeting, the commission declined to vote on an extension request for a residential lot at Kirin Crossing off Elm Street, where an order of conditions issued in 2004 has been carried — through routine extensions, the state Permit Extension Act, and what staff described as erroneous DEP guidance — for 12 years without any construction. Commissioners unanimously agreed to require the applicant to reflag or re-delineate the wetland boundary before the November 16 expiration date, citing both precedent concerns and the need for current site information. Separately, the board issued a partial certificate of compliance for a dam removal at 58 Hollis Street, described as the first project in Massachusetts carried out under a restoration order of conditions; physical transfer of the certificate is withheld until nylon-mesh erosion-control wattles are removed from the site. The commission also reported that Pepperell now has 2,876 acres of permanently protected open space — the lowest figure among neighboring communities — and that three active land protection projects could add roughly 100 acres pending a future town meeting vote.