Pepperell Planning Board Votes to Advance 40R Smart Growth Zoning to State

PEPPERELL — August 1, 2022 — Pepperell Planning Board votes unanimously to send 40R smart growth zoning to state, cutting proposed sites from five to two. The board voted 5-0 at its August 1 remote meeting to submit the Smart Growth Overlay District zoning article, section 9000, to the state Department of Housing and Community Development for preliminary review, a required step before the measure can appear on the November 2022 Town Meeting warrant. Chair Al Pattenon and the full board also voted 5-0 to limit the initial site list to Laten Street and the Senior Center parcel, removing Hotel Place, the Lorden Mill site, and the Peter Fitz property from the current submission after members concluded those sites lacked an active development rationale. A third unanimous vote added a 5 percent affordability requirement at 60 percent of area median income on top of the existing 20 percent at 80 percent AMI floor — a move Pattenon tied directly to the Pepperell Housing Authority's waiting list of 613 elderly applicants. Pattenon warned repeatedly that the Laten Street developer has said he will not wait past fall and will proceed with a 40B application — which would strip the town of local wetlands bylaw enforcement and design regulation authority — if the 40R path does not reach Town Meeting.