Pepperell Selectmen Approve Kennel Transfer, Fill Agricultural Board, Defer Cannabis Vote

PEPPERELL -- December 9, 2019, Pepperell selectmen approved a commercial kennel transfer, seated three new Agricultural Advisory Board members, and heard a first pitch from a retail marijuana startup at their December 9 meeting. The board granted special permit SP19-01 to Derek and Alicia Miller to operate the 37-year-old kennel at 41 Cranberry Street, owned by Colin and Angelica Howells, capping it at 40 dogs and conditioning the permit on Board of Health and plumbing inspector sign-off for a proposed PowerLoo waste system. Uma Flowers LLC, a Waltham-based family business whose principals include a pharmacist and two physicians, presented plans for a retail dispensary at 2 Tarbell Street, offering the town a projected $250,000 annually through a 3-percent host community agreement plus a 3-percent local sales tax; board members flagged parking at the "chaotic" lot and proximity to a Boy Scout shed roughly 75 feet away as potential barriers. Three appointments, Lucy McCain, Ken Hartledge, and Cheryl Rosoff, filled the Agricultural Advisory Board to its five-member statutory limit after the panel had been dormant for years. The board deferred Economic Development Advisory Committee appointments to December 23 after discovering unresolved questions about whether the committee has seven or eight seats.