Pepperell Planning Board Continues Pierce Street Common Drive Hearing to October

PEPPERELL — August 21, 2017 — Pepperell Planning Board continues four-lot Pierce Street common drive hearing to October 16. The board voted unanimously Monday to push back the public hearing on a common drive permit for property at 25 to 33 Pierce Street after engineer Keith Murray of Cornerstone Engineering disclosed that the revised plan now includes a fourth residential lot — an omission Murray called an oversight in the original submission — triggering the 35-day department-review period required by state statute. Murray had sought a two-week continuance, telling the board his client "is paying a lot of money every month" and faces losing the construction season, but staff held firm that the additional lot constituted a major change. A separate concern, raised sharply by board member Rick, is that the plan relies on a private residential driveway to provide the fire-apparatus turnaround, a condition one member said would draw a no vote if unchanged at the October meeting. No building permits can be filed for any of the four proposed lots until the permit is issued.