Pepperell Planning Board withholds ANR endorsement pending road ownership documentation

PEPPERELL — November 16, 2020 — Pepperell Planning Board blocks Brookline Street lot endorsement over disputed road ownership. The board voted unanimously Monday to take no action on an Approval Not Required plan for parcels at 50 and 74 Brookline Street, citing unresolved ownership of Merrill Lane, a discontinued road whose footprint is incorporated into the plan's lot-area, lot-shape-factor, and dry-land calculations. Member Al argued that without Land Court resolution or documentary title evidence, the board could not honestly complete the ANR checklist — noting that removing the road from the equation would likely cause at least two of the proposed lots to fall below Pepperell's 80,000-square-foot minimum area. Surveyor Michael Pluff of Fieldstone Land Consultants, appearing for the applicants, acknowledged his attorney's ownership opinion lacked documentary support and asked whether a Land Court ruling would allow the plan to return without a new application fee; the town planner said it would, provided the lot geometry did not change. The board also deferred three action items, including at least one special permit matter, to its November 30 meeting after a member absence left it short of the required voting super-majority.