Pepperell Planning Board Denies Upswing Farm Permission to Remove Scenic Road Stone Wall

PEPPERELL — June 21, 2022 — Pepperell Planning Board denies Upswing Farm permission to remove an overgrown rubble stone wall on Brookline Street under the town's scenic road bylaw. The board voted 3-2 twice — first rejecting a conditional motion by member Al to allow a 100-foot trial removal and reset, then rejecting the applicants' original request in full, with Chair Casey and members Joyce and Joan opposed both times and members David and Al in favor. Applicants Kevin and Brittany Overshiner of Upswing Farm had argued the cleanup was purely aesthetic — to improve road visibility of the farm — and said they were willing to use an excavator to scrape the rubble wall clear of invasives, including poison ivy, and reset the stones in place. Town counsel David Dineski's written opinion, read into the record, stopped short of ruling the board has jurisdiction at all, noting it is "not clear from the information on file whether the wall in question is within the scenic road boundaries of Brookline Street." The board also approved 4-1 a Climate Change Committee request for just over $3,000 in master plan funds to hire a 12-week intern at $17 per hour to build out Pepperell's existing MassEnergize climate action website and conduct community outreach, with Joyce casting the lone dissent.