Pepperell Planning Board Approves Bakery, Housing Conversion on Unanimous Votes

PEPPERELL — August 21, 2023 — Pepperell Planning Board unanimously approves bakery and housing conversion, flags site deficiencies at two subdivisions. The four-member board, chaired by Al Patnaude, voted 4-0 to approve a minor site plan review for Three Suites Bake Shop, a commercial bakery proposed by John and Stephanie Coburn at 89 Main Street, and 4-0 to approve a special permit for a one-bedroom accessory addition at 9 Proctor Road, conditioned on submission of a drawn site plan before the building inspector issues a permit. Town Planner Andrew McClain presented a recommendation to replace the board's linear major site plan review fee with a tiered structure that would roughly cut in half the fee for a prospective warehouse project of more than 450,000 square feet while holding recent smaller applicants — including a 23 Mill Street project that paid $3,100 — harmless; the board will vote on a formal fee chart at its September 5 meeting. Separately, Patnaude directed staff to formally notify the applicant of record at Scotch Pine Farmway of outstanding deficiencies including failed rain gardens, eroded road shoulders, and a submerged propane tank, and scheduled a planning board site visit to 1-4 Chamberlain Way for August 28 after finding no grade or alignment markings on a $237,000 bonded road relocation project.