Pepperell Planning Board approves cannabis retailer expansion, sets special bond meeting

PEPPERELL — December 20, 2021 — Pepperell Planning Board approves cannabis site plan change, schedules bond special meeting. The board voted 4-0 at its December 20 virtual meeting to allow New England Craft Cultivators LLC to replace a previously approved first-floor-and-basement layout at 112-114 Main Street with a combined two-unit, ground-floor-only configuration, citing improved customer flow and safety. The board also voted 5-0 to confirm no objection to the Building Commissioner issuing a temporary certificate of occupancy for a completed home at 25-33 Pierce Street under Special Permit 2020-02, with $100,000 held in escrow from closing proceeds pending a formal bond vote at a special meeting set for noon on December 27. Town Engineer Ken Kolmowski set the $100,000 figure, described by Town Planner Jenny as conservative given winter construction costs and rapid materials price inflation. Separately, the board debated whether a proposed Adaptive Reuse Overlay District bylaw should cover only municipal and religious buildings or extend to historically significant private residences — a question left unresolved and headed to a February 3 citizen engagement night — while also receiving Town Counsel's legal caution that applying a new Inclusionary Zoning bylaw to conventional subdivisions carries litigation risk under state subdivision control law.