FTO Realty Floodplain Subdivision
11-home subdivision in 100-year floodplain raises neighbor fears of increased flooding and wetland damage.
FTO Realty Trust seeks to subdivide 3.6 acres at 71 North Billerica Road into eleven homes within a 100-year floodplain. The Planning Board granted conditional subdivision and site plan approval in May 2026 despite neighbor objections. The Conservation Commission continued its review of the Notice of Intent in June 2026 pending further environmental data.
The FTO Realty Trust subdivision proposal at 71 North Billerica Road first surfaced for public review at the Planning Board meeting on May 4, 2026. The plan calls for dividing approximately 3.6 acres into eleven single-family homes, with portions of the work located in wetland buffer zones and the 100-year floodplain.
At that meeting the board conducted definitive subdivision and site plan review focused on stormwater management through porous pavement, drainage effects on adjacent wetlands and properties, and traffic safety. After hearing multiple residents describe historical flooding, high water tables, and concerns that new construction would redirect water onto neighboring yards, the board approved both the subdivision and site plan by identical 4 in favor, 1 against tallies, attaching conditions on landscaping, curbing, sight lines, and HOA maintenance responsibilities.
The matter then advanced to the Conservation Commission, which held a public hearing on the associated Notice of Intent on June 10, 2026. The applicant's representatives presented technical details including a 3.5:1 compensatory storage ratio and flow-through foundations for three homes in the floodplain, while the commission recorded neighbor testimony about potential increases in flooding and drainage problems.
The commission closed the hearing but immediately continued the item to its June 24 meeting to obtain a required tree inventory and planting analysis, signaling that additional technical information was needed before any determination.
The sequence shows the Planning Board's conditional land-use approvals occurring first, followed by the Conservation Commission's independent environmental review that remains unresolved.
Conservation Commission consideration of tree inventory and planting analysis at the June 24 meeting before a formal determination.
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