Pepperell Planning Board backs twin zoning articles for town center and affordable housing

PEPPERELL — June 28, 2022 — Pepperell Planning Board directs staff to pursue separate 40R smart growth overlay and town center base zoning articles for fall town meeting. At its June 28 meeting, the board gave informal consensus — no formal vote was taken — to advance a Chapter 40R smart growth overlay district covering five specific parcels and to convert the existing commercial zone into a new mandatory "town center zoning district" incorporating form-based code and design standards, replacing the optional mixed-use overlay district approach. Town Planner Jenny told the board a developer on the Layton Street parcel had approached the town about a 40R as an alternative to an otherwise planned 40B application, and warned that other developers have inquired about 40B projects on large rural parcels where the town would have little recourse. Member Al illustrated the counting stakes: Pepperell's two recent for-sale 40B projects — Emerson Village (56 units) and Birch (20 units) — combined to add only 19 affordable units to the state's subsidized housing inventory, meaning the town would need to build roughly 1,500 new homes through for-sale 40B development alone to meet the state's 10 percent threshold. The board set a preliminary 40R eligibility public hearing for July 21, with a DHCD submission targeted by the end of July.