(Editor’s note: Taylor is challenging incumbent Bob Domnitz for a seat on the Planning Board. Domnitz’s letter to the editor announcing his candidacy can be found here.)
To the editor:
With election season approaching, I would like to let people know that I shall be running for a position on the Planning Board. For those of you who do not know me, I have been involved in various aspects of town governance for many years, serving on the Finance Committee, the Capital Planning Committee, the Housing Commission, the Board of Selectmen and the School Building Committee. I was one of the principal developers and authors of Lincoln’s first Housing Production Plan and the At Risk Properties Report, planning documents that helped the town move forward successfully in affordable housing and in shaping development of key parcels of land.
I feel strongly that it is time for a change in orientation for the Planning Board. Much of the success in maintaining Lincoln’s small-town rural character is attributable to leaders in the past who kept their eyes on the future and prepared for what they saw coming. We need that same foresight now. Unfortunately, the focus of the Planning Board seems to have drifted towards minutia in site plan reviews, while important matters like building consensus around a plan for the South Lincoln Mall area receive insufficient attention.
From observing the board in action, I also believe that it could be much more efficient and user-friendly. Although there are on occasion proposals that are well out of bounds, most applicants before the Board are land owners seeking to improve properties in reasonable ways. The board’s approach should be to help them achieve their goals while honoring bylaw requirements, and this should not require numerous appearances before the board, as is often the case now. Problems with applications should largely be worked out with the Planning Board’s staff in advance of any hearing to save everyone time and spare applicants the expense of yet another round with an architect. Spending less time reviewing applications would leave more for actual planning.
There are several other areas for improvement such as better coordination with the Zoning Board of Appeals and more attention to implementation of the town’s Comprehensive Plan, and I look forward to discussing all these issues with Lincoln voters in seeking their support.
Sincerely,
Gary Taylor
2 Beaver Pond Road
Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to news@lincolnsquirrrel.com. Letters must be about a Lincoln-specific topic, will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.
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