Pepperell Conservation Commission Opens Hearing on 20-Lot Birch Drive Subdivision

PEPPERELL -- March 21, 2017, Pepperell Conservation Commission opens public hearing on 20-lot 40B subdivision at end of Birch Drive. The commission, meeting March 21, received a presentation from Joe Pesnola of Hancock Associates on behalf of applicant MGL Properties for Birch Pride Extension, a Chapter 40B affordable housing subdivision approved by the Zoning Board of Appeals on a long-dormant 1965-era subdivision site. Seven notices of intent are before the commission, one for the road, utilities, and stormwater infrastructure, and six for individual lots 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 19. Massachusetts DEP issued same-day comments flagging missing stormwater calculations, apparent failure of three infiltration basins to meet a 50-foot setback from surface water, and the requirement of a 401 water quality certification before any work begins. Commission members pressed the applicant on wetland recharge flow paths, the sourcing of replication plantings, road salt and snow storage near a six-foot retaining wall adjacent to wetlands, and the unresolved ownership of open-space parcels. Two abutters raised concerns about rare salamander species documented on the site and about nitrogen runoff potentially reaching a private well. The hearing was continued to April 4 at 7:20 p.m., with the applicant committed to submitting DEP responses within one week.