Billerica ZBA Unanimously Rejects Anti-Merger Appeal for Edgeworth Street Lots

BILLERICA — September 17, 2025 — Billerica ZBA upholds anti-merger ruling allowing three-lot Edgeworth Street development, despite flood-stricken neighbors' pleas. The board voted 5-0 Wednesday to deny an appeal of Building Commissioner Mark's determination that a parcel at 0 Edgeworth Street qualifies under the 2024 state Affordable Homes Act anti-merger provision for division into three separately buildable lots of 15,000, 15,000, and 12,500 square feet. More than a dozen neighbors from Bruning Road, Fourth Avenue, and Edgeworth Street testified to chronic flooding, sinkholes, a road surface one resident described as "mortar rounds," and basement sewage backups, with resident Paul Parker saying he has kept a 12-inch-deep standing pond in his corner lot since nearby construction began. The commissioner told the crowd that "the concerns you articulated tonight all have to do with drainage, water, roadway conditions — this is the Zoning Board of Appeals" and that Town Counsel had already advised the decision complied with state law. In a separate action, the board continued a Turnpike Market Restaurant special permit modification — which would double seating from 44 to 88 seats at 509 Middlesex Turnpike — to October 15, pending a revised parking plan, after Water Street residents testified that children walk in the road because restaurant overflow parking has eliminated the only pedestrian path from the school bus stop.