Billerica ZBA Approves One-Foot Parking Variance for Federal Street Housing Project

BILLERICA -- June 24, 2026, Billerica's Zoning Board of Appeals unanimously approved a parking variance Wednesday for a proposed multifamily housing project at 1 and 2 Federal Street, allowing developer JLB Realty, LLC to use 9-by-18-foot parking stalls instead of the 9-by-19-foot standard required under base zoning. Attorney Mark Seck told the board the one-foot reduction would shift pavement to landscaping along a Route 3 gateway approach, without altering the building or unit count; the project had already received Planning Board and Conservation Commission approval under the MBTA Communities Act. Planning Board member Blake Robertson, of 383 Trouble Cove Road, appeared in opposition, arguing the variance was "not necessary and not imposing a hardship" given that roughly 30 spaces are already banked as unneeded. In a separate 0-4 vote, the board denied a proposal to authorize administrative assistant Elizabeth Ells to sign board certificates on behalf of absent members, after the Registry of Deeds rejected several decisions stamped with an absent member's stamp; the board will consult Town Counsel on a chair-signature alternative. Two other petitions, a lot-division variance at 4 Olive Road and an Affordable Homes Act appeal involving lots on Apple and Birch Street, were continued to the August 19 meeting.