(Editor’s note: this letter concerns a proposal for a hospice on Winter Street—see the Lincoln Squirrel, Sept. 11, 2013).
To the Editor:
As you may be aware, in the summer of 2013 the Hospice of the North Shore and Greater Boston (now called Care Dimensions) purchased the property at 121-129 Winter St. This is the undeveloped property on the left as you first come into Lincoln on the one way road. They purchased about 11 acres in Lincoln and about four acres in Waltham, right below Bay Colony office park.
The hospice is planning a 20-bed facility that will occupy a footprint of about 30,000 square feet (a normal house has a footprint of about 2,000 square feet), with a parking lot for about 85 cars. There will be a loading dock for truck deliveries. Access will be [via] Waltham, with emergency access through Lincoln.
The residential zoning of the site allows a nursing home use subject to a special permit. The hospice has now filed for their special permit with the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA). The first ZBA meeting to consider the application will be on March 6.
As an abutter, I have many concerns. As a Lincoln resident, I am against this proposed institutional use of a residential zoned property. To deny the special permit, the ZBA must find the development will “have a detrimental effect to the neighborhood.” In my opinion, the detrimental effects include:
- Increased traffic to a designated historic district of Lincoln.
- Institutional all-night parking area lighting that does not belong in a residential neighborhood.
- Increased noise from 24 hour use of the parking area (alarms on/off, doors slamming, etc.).
If you also have concerns, please share them in writing with the ZBA and attend the ZBA meeting on March 6 at 7:30 p.m.
This proposed institution use of a residential zoned property should not be allowed to proceed.
Sincerely,
Bruce Fairless
115 Winter St.
Letters to the editor must be signed and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Letters must be about a Lincoln-specific topic. They may be edited for length, grammar/punctuation, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor.
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