Billerica Planning Board Approves Bank Rebuild, Fire-Damaged Salvage Yard Permits

BILLERICA — October 16, 2025 — Billerica Planning Board clears two site plan special permits and releases a long-held subdivision bond at October 16 meeting. The board voted 6-0 to approve a site plan special permit for Northern Bank and Trust to demolish and replace its branch at 482 Boston Road with a smaller 2,669-square-foot building — down from roughly 4,500 square feet — granting waivers on a traffic study, consultant review fee, and green strip requirement; Attorney Mark Vaughn of Reamer and Bronstein represented the bank and noted the project had already received Billerica Historic District Commission approval. The board also voted unanimously to approve a site plan special permit for the fire-damaged Fully Used Cars and Parts at 24-26 Town Farm Lane, where Attorney Stephen Lentini described more than two years of permit delays, insurance holdbacks, and a water line stub that took until February 2025 to locate — granting waivers on traffic study, landscaping, green strip, and consultant review. Chair Drew flagged a January 2023 DPW memo warning that no building permits at 482 Boston Road will be issued until the property owner completes a long-delayed sewer main relining. Developer Brad Chenise received a unanimous bond release for the Turner Road subdivision, a project complete since roughly 2017 that he said had been held up by administrative back-and-forth for the better part of six years.