Pepperell Planning Board agrees to default to outside peer review engineers for project oversight

PEPPERELL — March 31, 2025 — Pepperell Planning Board hears water is at half capacity, tracks two advancing 40B projects, and debates zoning reform sequence. The board received a capacity briefing from Department of Water and Wastewater leadership at its March 31 hybrid session, learning the town's permitted withdrawal of 1.3 million gallons per day is roughly 50 percent utilized — even with one well offline — and the sewer treatment plant is running at about 550,000 of its 1.1 million gallon daily capacity. DWW Director told the board that a proposed 200-unit Lake Landing project would add only about 25,000 gallons per day, calling it "almost not going to show up." Town Planner Jason reported that the Lake Landing project has cleared the MassDevelopment appraisal stage, while the Bancroft Street 40B applicant submitted its eligibility package the same day as the meeting. The board reached working consensus to default to outside peer review engineers for all project inspections — paid by applicants — after criticizing a recent DWW review as arriving "three hours before a meeting." Pepperell's affordable housing inventory stands at roughly 3 percent, far below the 10 percent "safe harbor" threshold that would give the town stronger standing to deny future 40B applications.