Pepperell Conservation Commission Votes Against Pursuing 74 Brookline Street Purchase

PEPPERELL — February 2, 2021 — Pepperell Conservation Commission recommends against purchasing 8-acre parcel slated for subdivision. The commission voted unanimously Tuesday to advise the Select Board not to exercise the town's Chapter 61 right of first refusal on 74 Brookline Street, a scenic agricultural parcel at the corner of Brookline and Prescott Street where a prospective buyer has offered $270,000 and plans to create three residential lots. Conservation Agent Paula told members the town lacks the funds, the parcel is not contiguous to existing conservation land, and a title dispute over the status of Merrill Lane running through the property remains unresolved. The commission separately directed consultant Maureen Herald of North Environmental Services to revise a driveway paving plan for applicant Kenneth Tully at 20 Sheffield Road, requiring that grades within the 100-foot wetland buffer zone be held at the existing 5.7 to 6 percent slope rather than steepened to 10 percent as proposed, and continued that hearing to February 16.