Billerica Planning Board hears flood damage complaints, advances MBTA zoning work

BILLERICA -- August 21, 2023, Billerica Planning Board faces twin crises as mall flooding damage and MBTA zoning mandate dominate a marathon August 21 session. More than a dozen residents from Tower Farm Road, Whittier Road, Frost Street, Poe Road, and Bear Hill Road described unprecedented basement flooding, structural damage, and clay-laden stormwater runoff they blamed on construction at the 480 Boston Road mall redevelopment, with one speaker reporting roughly 560 gallons of water manually removed from her basement per hour over eight straight hours during the first storm event. Planning Director Erica Beaulieu told residents enforcement of the project's permit conditions rests with the Building Department and Board of Health rather than the Planning Board, though the board agreed to add a permit compliance review to a future agenda. In a separate two-hour presentation, Northern Middlesex Council of Governments Deputy Director Kelly Linehan and Senior Planner Mike Aschola presented two draft zoning district scenarios, centered on the North Billerica commuter rail station, to meet the state's requirement that Billerica zone for a capacity of 2,323 units at 15 dwelling units per acre by December 31, 2024, with non-compliance risking loss of MassWorks grants and Fair Housing Act lawsuits. The board unanimously approved an Approval Not Required lot split at 336 Boston Road connected to a planned expansion of the Middlesex County Animal Hospital, and voted unanimously to continue a rules and regulations update to the September 18 meeting.