Pepperell Planning Board continues marijuana dispensary hearing, cites parking and traffic concerns

PEPPERELL — October 5, 2020 — Pepperell Planning Board continues marijuana retail hearing and adopts final master plan chapter. The board, meeting remotely October 5, voted unanimously to continue the special permit public hearing for New England Craft Cultivators LLC — which proposes an adult-use marijuana dispensary at 112-114 Main Street in the Pegasus Mall — to October 19, after department reviews flagged unresolved conflicts over one-way versus two-way traffic circulation, Cottage Street parking encroachments, and a traffic intersection with an accident rate double the state average. The applicant projects roughly $349,000 in annual local excise tax revenue at 3 percent of gross sales. The board also voted unanimously to adopt the final chapter of the Pepperell Master Plan, completing a years-long planning effort and establishing a two-resident implementation team to be appointed by the Select Board on the Planning Board's recommendation. In a separate unanimous vote, the board granted a special permit for a three-unit residential development at 33-35 Hollis Street, and voted to recommend Select Board acceptance of Crawford Way and Red Pepper Lane at the November 14 fall Town Meeting.