Burlington Board of Health Approves 188-Unit Middlesex Turnpike Residential Project Unanimously

BURLINGTON — May 12, 2026 — Burlington's Board of Health unanimously approved the site plan and special permit for the Nordblom Company's 188-unit residential project at 129 and 131 Middlesex Turnpike at its May 12 meeting. Attorney Robert Buckley and project manager Todd Fremont Smith presented the proposal to demolish two 1970s multi-story office buildings and construct one multi-family building with underground parking in the town's MBTA zoning district. A Board of Health subcommittee that met April 27 — including Vice Chair Andrea Sheehan, Environmental Engineer Christine Mathis, and Director of Public Health Susan Luminello — had already negotiated 17 conditions, which the proponents accepted. Environmental scientist Jim Ash of GEI Consultants said a known groundwater plume sits more than 20 feet below the surface and that a vapor mitigation system will be installed beneath the building's basement slab. The board also approved keeping-of-animals permits for hens at 8 Jefferson Avenue and 1 Holly Street, received a new $5,000 FDA-NEHA grant for the retail food program, and postponed a geothermal well permit for Fox Hill Elementary School to May 26 after abutters were not properly notified.