Pepperell Planning Board Endorses Contested Brookline Street Lot Plan Three to One

PEPPERELL — January 4, 2021 — Pepperell Planning Board endorses disputed Brookline Street lot plan and sets $50,000 zoning budget placeholder. The board voted three to zero with one abstention at its January 4 meeting to endorse an approval-not-required plan for 50 and 74 Brookline Street, accepting Town Counsel David Deneski's written opinion that the town holds no ownership or easement interest in the discontinued Merrill Lane and that title reverted to the Kaiser family under the state's derelict fee statute. Board member Al abstained, arguing the question is "a land court decision" and citing contrary opinions he has encountered in Groton and other towns. The board added a notation in the record that endorsement does not constitute a finding of zoning conformance. The remainder of the three-hour meeting was consumed by a master plan implementation workshop, during which the board agreed to submit a $50,000 fiscal year 2022 placeholder for a comprehensive zoning bylaw overhaul — described by Chuck of the Master Plan Implementation Team as a typical market rate for a full rewrite — ahead of a January 15 deadline for Town Administrator Andrew's budget preparation.