Pepperell Planning Board Tours Proposed Police and Fire Facility Site on Lowell Road

PEPPERELL — October 24, 2022 — Pepperell Planning Board walks the proposed 45-47 Lowell Road public safety facility site, examining drainage, driveways, and property boundaries. Kevin McGarry of Fuss & O'Neill led board members and interested parties through the proposed footprint of a combined police and fire facility under Planning Board application PB-SP-2-2-4, explaining that the project's three-driveway layout is designed to separate fire apparatus, police, visitor, and DPW traffic flows. McGarry confirmed the project exceeds the 15 percent impervious cover and 2,500-square-foot thresholds that require a stormwater special permit, and described a detention basin system engineered to contain a 100-year storm without overtopping the emergency overflow. Board members pressed on the loss of rear tree cover near the post office boundary, with McGarry committing to semi-mature tree plantings outside the rear fence line post-construction. Tecton Architects lead architect Rebecca Hopkins was absent due to illness and is expected at the next formal hearing.