Planning Board tables Heaven's Gas LED sign request, orders lighting data

PEPPERELL -- June 15, 2026, Pepperell's Planning Board unanimously tabled a request by Heaven's Gas Station to convert its Boynton Street pricing sign to LED electronic display, sending the applicant back for a photometric study and smaller numeral proposals. Sign consultant Heather Dutko, representing INQ Enterprise LLC, told the board the upgrade from a manual placard board to an electronic unit would keep the same 20-square-foot cabinet and improve employee safety; board members pushed back on proposed 16-inch numerals, roughly twice the height approved at comparable stations, and the sign's position in the town right-of-way. Abutter Scott Close of 4 Servant Street warned that LED signs project light "a lot further" and urged the board to deny. The hearing continues July 13. In a separate unanimous vote, the board approved a package of amendments to its Land Development Control Regulations, including a new state-mandated cap of one parking space per dwelling unit for multi-family housing and an extension of project vesting deadlines from five to seven years.