Pepperell Planning Board Advances Subdivision Rules Toward First Public Hearing

PEPPERELL — June 1, 2026 — Pepperell Planning Board advances subdivision regulations overhaul and opens battery storage debate. At its June 1 meeting, the board unanimously re-elected Al Padnot as chair and David Ganam as clerk before receiving a detailed briefing from Town Planner Jason on a peer-reviewed revision to the town's subdivision regulations, a process paid for by the Department of Public Works because of its stormwater scope and conducted by engineering firm Tyne Bond. The revised draft incorporates new invasive species inventory requirements — covering Japanese knotweed, purple loosestrife, and Asian bittersweet — strengthened native landscaping standards, and low-impact development language framed as encouraged rather than required. The board set a June 15 work session to resolve policy questions before scheduling a first public hearing, targeting July. Members also reviewed a staff summary of 225 CMR 29, the state regulation that bars towns from outright prohibiting battery energy storage facilities, and discussed tying local containment requirements to existing above-ground fuel-storage precedents. The board noted Pepperell issued permits for only two single-family homes in all of 2025 as background for a planned facilitated forum of roughly 25 town board and commission chairs on housing and growth coordination, which the Select Board has agreed to support.