Pepperell Planning Board Continues 50 Main Street Hearing to June 21

PEPPERELL — June 6, 2021 — Pepperell Planning Board continues hearing on burned Main Street building, seeks revised plans before acting. The board voted unanimously at its June 7 meeting to continue the major site plan review for 50 Main Street to June 21, directing Degmar Development Corporation to submit revised drawings addressing drainage calculations, lighting photometrics, landscaping details, and building elevations before the board considers approval. Peter Marlow, president of the Lowell-based firm, is proposing to replace the six-unit Victorian structure destroyed by fire in July 2019 with a new six-unit, three-story building featuring underground parking and a mansard roof, on a site whose footprint would grow from roughly 4,000 to 8,000 square feet. Member Chuck Trempe calculated the new building would stand six to eight feet taller than the original and said dimensions needed to appear on the drawings before the board could evaluate whether the project stays within planning board jurisdiction or triggers a Zoning Board of Appeals referral. The board also sought a legal opinion from Town Counsel Bob Kelly on whether the applicant's demolition permit satisfies the zoning bylaw's two-year reconstruction clock, which Marlow warned could expire in July.