Planning Board Continues South Road Hearing to June 4 Amid 90-Day Deadline

PEPPERELL — May 14, 2018 — Pepperell Planning Board continues South Road open space permit hearing as 90-day clock ticks. The board voted unanimously at its May 14 meeting to continue the public hearing for Land West's special permit application — an open space residential development at 110 South Road known as the Robinson-Hoddle Lake project — to June 4, 2018 at 7:15 p.m., after receiving a written request from Beale Associates project engineer Devin P. Howell citing unresolved Department of Public Works comments. One board member warned that the 90-day review period expires June 6, meaning the board must act at the June 4 session or seek a second extension. The chair also outlined a town charter process for filling two board vacancies, requiring a 10-day public posting and a joint vote with the Board of Selectmen, citing urgency before summer vacation schedules threaten quorum. Members separately expressed concern that the Master Plan Committee's expansion to 21 members — up from an originally planned eight — combined with extended public comment periods, risks exhausting the 18-month grant funding window before the plan is complete.