Pepperell Planning Board closes Pierce Street hearing, sets $668,000 Robinson Hollow bond

PEPPERELL — June 15, 2020 — Pepperell Planning Board closes Pierce Street common driveway hearing and sets $668,000 Robinson Hollow performance bond. The board unanimously closed the continued public hearing on the Pierce Street common driveway special permit after settling on a hybrid utility approach — overhead electric service to the first residence, then underground for remaining lots — over objections from abutters Christopher Dunlein and James Patch, who argued the hybrid made little practical sense and could set a precedent for overhead service on future applications. The board also conditioned the applicant to work with Town Engineer Ken Kalinowski and Highway Superintendent Mike Schrader on a modest vehicle turnaround improvement at the existing town-owned cul-de-sac at the road's terminus. Separately, the board voted unanimously to accept the rescission of an approval-not-required plan for 37 Blood Street after Building Inspector Robert Kelly's memo showed both proposed lots fell short of the 80,000-square-foot dry-land requirement in the Water Resource Overlay District, with Lot 1 showing only 50,700 square feet. The Robinson Hollow bond was set at $668,000 — the applicant's certified estimate of $607,424.65 plus a 10 percent contingency endorsed by the town engineer.