Pepperell Planning Board Approves Dog Training Facility, Endorses Two ANR Plans

PEPPERELL — October 3, 2022 — Pepperell Planning Board endorses two lot-line plans and approves a dog training facility, then debates 40R design standards with the Climate Change Committee. The board unanimously endorsed a revised Approval Not Required plan for 96 Park Street reconfiguring two lots at 1.84 acres and 4.2 acres, and separately endorsed a rare Chapter 41, Section 81L ANR for 16-20 Tarbell Street, a parcel with four pre-1953 structures whose assessor and deed lines had long been misaligned — only the third such application surveyor David Brachuk of GPR said he had encountered in 35 years. The board also approved a minor site plan for a dog training facility at 1-5 Tucker Street with conditions including shielded lighting and a ban on trash trucks between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. In a joint session with the Climate Change Committee, Chair Al Patnaud cautioned that the 106-page draft design standards document contained "shall" language mandating forms of development — such as open space residential subdivisions and cottage courts — that Pepperell's current zoning does not yet authorize, warning against "creat[ing] a document that just makes it impossible to actually accomplish what we're trying to do." A public hearing on the design standards is set for November 7 and the 40R zoning article goes to town meeting November 14.