PEPPERELL — The Planning Board moved quickly to approve a special permit for a body art business at 41 Lomar Park, Unit 11, during a public hearing Monday night. Applicant Anthony Schuster of Nashua, who will be doing business as Ink Haus, cited his four years of experience as a tattoo artist and a desire to open up his own studio in Pepperell.
“I’ll be the only tattoo artist there,” said Schuster who expects to have later hours to accommodate his client base.
Schuster added that he is licensed to tattoo in both New Hampshire and New York and has taken all of the required health and safety courses for his Massachusetts license. He hopes to be open for business after the first of the year.
Schuster had the support of both his Lomar Park landlord who was in attendance, as well as John Masiello, a member of the Pepperell Economic Development Advisory Development Committee.
“I think having businesses in town and going into the park sounds like a good idea,” said Masiello.
The board also held a public hearing for a common driveway proposed at 85-87 River Road filed by applicant Lorden and Stanton Realty, LLC. Civil Engineer Jack Visniewski of Cornerstone Land Consulting provided details of the proposed driveway that will provide access to four new homes. According to Visniewski, the driveway allows access to the building lots and avoids disruption to a large wetland area along River Road.
Comments received from both the Conservation Commission and the Department of Public Works recommended moving the location of the 668 foot driveway slightly further away from the wetland buffer.
“There’s a concern that we may be too close to the wetland. There was also the suggestion of possibly pulling the whole driveway a little further away” said Visniewski.
“We need to talk about that. I don’t know if that is really necessary, but that it is a suggestion that we received,” he said.
The board agreed to continue the hearing to Jan. 14 to allow the applicant to address these concerns.
The board also announced that a Public Hearing would be held on March 25 at the request of the Board of Selectman, to receive input from the public on a zoning petition received from property owners of 64-70 Main St. to change their zoning from urban residence to commercial.
