Current zoning in South Lincoln (left) and the changes that were proposed in 2020 (click image for larger version).
Residents at a September 28 public forum to discuss the results of a survey on the future of South Lincoln criticized the study as being biased toward development and asked for another survey done by an objective professional.
The survey was open from May 14 to June 30, and data and comments from the 790 responses were released in August. Results indicated that residents have mixed feelings about South Lincoln. There was no consensus on whether the village center should change, and respondents wanted both a viable commercial center and perhaps some moderately priced housing but also wanted to maintain the town’s rural character.
“People want more benefits but not the things that could lead to those benefits,” observed resident Jen Morris.
“Welcome to our world,” quipped Planning Board Chair Margaret Olson.
Potential drivers for change include a new state law that will require areas near MBTA train stations to allow denser housing, though the specific details and any penalties for noncompliance are still unclear. The state aims to encourage more housing construction along with public transportation use, but since most of the daily commuting by train to Boston ended due to the pandemic, the viability of South Lincoln as a commuter point is also unclear, with or without new housing nearby.
Another factor: although Lincoln is generally wary of growing its population, enrollment at the Lincoln School has been declining over the past several years. “We have plenty of capacity in the Lincoln School to accept many additional students and would welcome more students,” Superintendent of School Becky McFall wrote in an email to Olson, who shared it at the forum attended by more than 50 residents via Zoom.
McFall is expected to send a more detailed memo regarding school enrollment in October.
In the survey, 46% of respondents said they supported more affordable or moderately priced housing in South Lincoln, but one-third either did not support it at all, or supported it in a location other than the South Lincoln village center.
“I support activity such as a playground, dog park and community gathering/meeting point, etc., [but] as I have said many times, there is a lot we could do to have a viable town center without adding new rental units,” Planning Board member Lynn DeLisi wrote in the chat area of the Zoom forum.
Also affecting possible development in South Lincoln is the limited capacity of the septic system that currently serves the mall and Lincoln Woods. A study is currently underway by engineers who will make a preliminary report at the Planning Board’s October 5 meeting. And even if the mall were to be redeveloped, there isn’t agreement about what sort of businesses can achieve long-term success there, given the proliferation of online shopping and nearby stores such as Market Basket and Costco, forum attendees noted.
Both the mixed-use zoning that was proposed in early 2020 by the Planning Board and the notion of “if you build it they will come” are “flawed models,” said Richard Ohlsten, adding that many storefronts in the Wayland Center development are still vacant years after completion. “I’m not opposed to development but let’s just do something smart and unique. If we get this wrong, there’s no going back.”
Many brick-and-mortar stores in Lincoln and elsewhere are struggling, “and I don’t know that we can build our way out of it,” resident Sara Mattes said. She suggested looking into subsidizing the types of businesses that Lincoln wants, or even using Community Preservation Act funds to buy smaller houses and “put into permanent affordability… it’s the kind of crazy forward thinking that Lincoln used to do with land acquisition and preservation,” she said.
Many residents at the forum said the survey questions were skewed and urged the Planning Board to commission another survey, this time using an outside firm. “The survey wasn’t designed to hear from those of us who are opposed to development,” said Barbara Peskin.
Mattes suggested framing questions in terms of what tradeoffs people are willing to make to achieve certain objectives. “The information generated in the survey has been questioned, and to use it to guide or direct any potential change, some of us feel, is not appropriate,” she said.