Pepperell Planning Board endorses Wheeler Road land donation, advances solar and marijuana bylaws

PEPPERELL — March 18, 2019 — Pepperell Planning Board unanimously endorsed a land split at 70A Wheeler Road that will donate roughly 10.5 acres of wildlife habitat to the town, and spent most of its March 18 meeting working through draft solar energy and marijuana establishment zoning bylaws ahead of a tentative April 15 public hearing. Applicant Mr. Joyce told the board the parcel had sat dormant since the 2008 downturn and that after consulting with state Fish and Wildlife and the Conservation Commission he chose to donate the acreage because it abuts existing town land. On solar, the board agreed roof-mounted systems should be allowed by right in all districts and reached consensus that medium and large ground-mounted systems should require a Planning Board special permit rather than simple site plan review, while leaving the size threshold for "medium" — currently set at 1,750 square feet — to be raised, possibly to 5,000 square feet, before the next meeting. On marijuana, Town Administrator Andrew Glinton urged the board to preserve flexibility, warning that the Attorney General "may force your hand to change" a bylaw that is overly restrictive, while board members debated whether cultivation facilities should remain confined to commercial and industrial zones or be opened to rural residential districts by special permit; no vote was taken on either bylaw. The board also reported filing a $50,000 MassDevelopment Technical Assistance Grant application for the Peter Fitzpatrick School site the prior week.