To the editor:
At this year’s Town Meeting, the Planning Board is proposing for the town’s consideration two zoning amendments to further the goals of the 2014 Lincoln Station Planning Study. These will be found under Articles 37 and 38 of the Town Meeting warrant. Together these amendments are intended to promote private sector development in the Lincoln Station area. No public-sector investment is proposed at this time.
There are two distinct commercial districts at Lincoln Station: The B1 Retail Business district, located along Lincoln Road immediately north of the railroad tracks; and the B2 Service Business district located on Lewis Street immediately south of the railroad tracks. The B2 district presently excludes some B1 retail uses that we believe would be appropriate on Lewis Street. These include retail stores, banks, and retail service establishments such as barber shops, beauty shops, laundry and dry-cleaning pickup agencies, shoe repair, etc.
To facilitate retail or mixed-use development, the first amendment, Article 37, expands the uses allowed in the B2 district to include all the retail uses presently allowed in the B1 district. Uses currently allowed in the B2 district will continue to be allowed.
In addition, after studying parking requirements in nearby and similar communities, we propose to relax our parking requirement to conform more closely to current norms. The second amendment, Article 38, will reduce required parking from 1 space per 140 square feet of retail space to 1 space per 250 square feet. The proposed amendment does not alter the flexibility in the Zoning Bylaw to adjust this requirement in specific cases if appropriate.
The increased flexibility offered by these two amendments is intended to encourage business owners to explore new opportunities and to enhance the economic sustainability of our town commercial center.
Sincerely,
Richard Rundell
Chair, Lincoln Planning Board
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