Pepperell Planning Board Eyes Downtown Overlay District for Spring Town Meeting

PEPPERELL — August 30, 2021 — Pepperell Planning Board sets sights on adaptive reuse overlay district for downtown corridor. Meeting August 30, the board spent the bulk of its session reviewing master plan priorities and debating how to advance a proposed overlay district covering the Peter Fitz school building and Railroad Square, with members agreeing that a fall town meeting article was not feasible but that spring was a realistic target. Member Jennifer — attending her last meeting before transitioning to the town's staff planner role on September 1 — outlined how such a district could apply to underutilized buildings beyond historic structures, citing Leicester's 2020 rezoning as a model, and urged a simultaneous update to the town's table of uses to add modern terms like maker space and brew pub. Board members also learned that both Beverly Wood and Jay Donovan, senior NEMCOG staff assisting Pepperell on three active projects including the LRRP and OSRD bylaw, plan to retire within six months. A department-wide data request was confirmed, with an October 8 response deadline, as the master plan implementation team prepares for November town meeting.