Pepperell Planning Board votes against farmland purchase on Mount Lebanon Street

PEPPERELL — January 13, 2025 — Pepperell Planning Board recommends against purchasing a $275,000 farmland parcel, advancing it toward residential development. The board voted 3-0 at its January 13 meeting to advise the Select Board not to exercise the town's right of first refusal on a four-acre agricultural property at 96-104 Mount Lebanon Street, citing the parcel's small size, absence of critical habitat features, and the town's lack of available purchasing funds outside of reserves. Town Planner Jason reported that both the Nashoba Trust and the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife had already passed on the property. The board also accepted an approval-not-required plan for 73-75 Main Street, fulfilling a side yard setback condition from a prior special permit, and continued a wide-ranging public hearing on its table of principal uses — with debate centering on whether multifamily housing should be allowable by special permit in industrial zones — to January 27.