Arlington ZBA Continues Boston Gas Take Station Hearing, Seeks More Information

ARLINGTON -- January 13, 2026, Arlington ZBA continues hearing on Boston Gas take station special permit, citing unresolved questions on trees and noise. The Arlington Zoning Board of Appeals voted 4-0 at its January 13 meeting to continue a public hearing on a special permit application by Boston Gas Company to build a new natural gas take station at 307 Washington Street, scheduling the next session for January 27. Chair Christian Klein and board members Nicholas Rosenberg, Roger DuPont, and Brad Baranowski pressed outside counsel Joshua Lee Smith and engineer Jeremy Butler on whether the project could be sited on the adjacent Kinder Morgan parcel, whether a marginal capacity increase was truly negligible, and how a noise complaint procedure would be enforced as a permit condition. The applicant said a federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration rule requires the station, whose underground equipment dates to the 1950s, to be brought into full compliance with traceable materials documentation by 2035, making reconstruction unavoidable. More than a dozen residents testified against the project, citing loss of mature oaks and pines, destruction of bat and songbird habitat, elimination of informal school walking paths, and a $43,000 tree-fund fee that will accompany a required tree permit.