Pepperell Planning Board keeps marijuana cultivation in industrial zones, eyes spring town meeting

PEPPERELL — March 4, 2019 — Pepperell Planning Board moves marijuana and solar bylaws toward spring town meeting amid debate over setbacks and cultivation zoning. The board, meeting March 4, voted unanimously to approve two Approval Not Required plans — one for 10 Tucker Street and one for properties at 87 Elm Street and 32-34 Shirley Street — and set a public hearing on its draft recreational marijuana bylaw for March 11 at 7 p.m. at the Senior Center. Members reached consensus that marijuana cultivation should remain restricted to industrial zones, rejecting a residential-zone approach used by some neighboring towns, and agreed to keep a retail-establishment setback at 300 feet pending a map analysis to confirm at least one viable siting location exists in Pepperell's commercial corridors after town counsel recommended 500 feet. A local farmer urged the board to expedite a draft solar energy bylaw, warning that his prospective solar developer, Omni Novartis, had already extended his lease agreement twice and was running out of patience. Planning staff reported Pepperell's affordable housing stock stands at approximately 3.8 percent of total units, well below the state's 10 percent threshold, as the town's housing production plan nears its August expiration.