Pepperell Conservation Commission Orders Chicken Coops Out of Wetlands at Easy Street Property

PEPPERELL — April 23, 2026 — Pepperell Conservation Commission orders chicken coops removed from wetlands at Easy Street property and advances Red Mill subdivision review. At its April 23 meeting, the commission gave informal guidance to Easy Street homeowners that two chicken coops and associated structures built in or abutting a forested wetland must be removed, and directed them to return June 10 with a planting plan for a cleared stream-bank area and a removal timeline. Conservation Agent Hannah said she would draft a generalized enforcement order for that meeting. Separately, the commission voted unanimously to open and immediately continue Notice of Intent hearings for three new Toll Brothers lots — 20, 21, and 67 of the Red Mill on Charles subdivision — to May 13, joining more than a dozen other Red Mill lots already pending; representative Brian Madden of LHC Environmental noted the project has 35 lots total and the commission is not yet halfway through. A long-stalled Lakeview Notice of Intent was also continued to June 10 after the applicant provided no updates since September, with members warning that denial or a withdrawal-without-prejudice order was the next likely step. The commission closed with Hannah announcing plans to draft written policies on submission deadlines, continuation requests, and beaver dam management procedures — gaps she said the meeting had made urgent.