Pepperell Planning Board Approves Chestnut Street Two-Family Conversion Unanimously

PEPPERELL — March 13, 2017 — Pepperell Planning Board unanimously approves a two-family conversion on Chestnut Street. The board voted Monday to grant a special permit to Marion and Cynthia Czajowski of 127 Chestnut Street to convert an attached two-story garage bay into a separate living unit, with all modifications internal and a new 2,000-gallon septic system planned for spring installation following Board of Health approval in November 2016. A separate public hearing listed as item 7A was canceled after the applicant withdrew. The board also spent considerable time on its stalled Open Space Residential Development bylaw, with members describing what one called "an obstruction of the public process" after consultant Marcus Shambo of the Nashua River Watershed Association stopped work following Town Administrator Mark Andrews reportedly barring him from meeting with the town engineer. One member said he would not support the bylaw effort "until I know who is funding this," citing an anonymous donation that required the town to use Shambo as its consultant; other members argued the more pressing question was why Andrews had put the brakes on the process at all. The board placed the OSRD back on the agenda for its March 27 meeting and is awaiting the outcome of Andrews's scheduled March 23 meeting with Elizabeth Campbell of the Nashua River Watershed Association.