Burlington Board of Health unanimously approves 188-unit Middlesex Turnpike housing project

WALPOLE — May 12, 2026 — Burlington Board of Health clears 188-unit MBTA district housing project at 129-131 Middlesex Turnpike. The board voted unanimously Tuesday night to approve site plan and special permits for the Nordblum Company's proposal to demolish two 1970s office buildings and construct 188 residential units with underground parking in Burlington's MBTA overlay district, subject to 17 negotiated conditions. Attorney Robert Buckley and project representative Todd Fremont Smith told the board the development matches exactly what was shown to Town Meeting, with civil engineer Frank DiPietro of VHB reporting that peak stormwater flow rates to Great Meadow Road will be reduced to 37 percent of existing conditions and flows to Middlesex Turnpike cut by up to 83 percent. Environmental scientist Jim Ash of GEI Consultants confirmed a vapor migration mitigation system will be installed beneath the building's foundation slab due to a down-gradient chlorinated VOC plume more than 20 feet below grade. Vice Chair Andrea Sheehan, who co-chaired the April 27 subcommittee review, said the proponents "agreed to a vapor barrier, which we felt that was very important for the long-term future of the site." A public linear park easement connecting Middlesex Turnpike to Great Meadow Road, designed by Copley Wolf Landscape Architects of Boston, will be conveyed to the town as part of the project.