Lincoln officials are gearing up for Annual Town Meeting with advance presentations via Zoom starting Tuesday night.
The Planning Board will explain and take questions about two measures — an accessory apartment zoning bylaw revision and a new illicit discharge/stormwater management general bylaw — on Tuesday, April 27 starting at 7 p.m. Click here for the Zoom link (meeting ID: 994 5136 7238; passcode: 317537).
The changes to the accessory apartment bylaw would add a cap on the number of accessory apartments allowed equal to 5% of all residential units in Lincoln. The board also proposes to remove limitations on the age of structures that are eligible to add accessory apartments, and to require a minimum rental term of 30 days where the accessory apartment or principal dwelling is occupied as a rental unit.
Lincoln voters approved the Affordable Accessory Apartment program four years ago, but it was only recently that the state officially OK’d it, so the local rules needed some tweaks before the program can finally launch.
Stormwater proposal
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has identified land disturbance and polluted storm water runoff as a major source of water pollution. Under Lincoln’s federal and state environmental permits, it’s required to work on a range of measures including adoption of a Stormwater Management Bylaw.
This bylaw would prohibit pollutants and other non-stormwater discharge such as an indoor drains, sinks, toilets, or washing machines from being discharged into the storm drain system or a water course. The Planning Board would administer the town’s Stormwater Management program and adopt regulations including rules to ensure erosion control during construction.
More information:
- FAQs on the stormwater bylaw
- Accessory apartment bylaw revisions
- 2021 Annual Town Meeting web page with the list of articles, warrant, and financial information
Future presentations will be announced to give residents as much advance information as possible with the goal of keeping the outdoor May 15 ATM as short as possible.