Editor’s note: This article was amended on February 29 to include a link to remarks accompanying some of the slides.
New buildings that go up in the future HCA subdistricts will have to adhere to design guidelines presented as a draft at a February 27 community forum.
The slide decks from the forum (one with notes and one without) recap the feedback received by the Housing Choice Act Working Group — feedback that has shifted over time between a preference for concentrating affordable housing at the mall vs. spreading it around town — plus resulting changes that HCAWG and the Planning Board made, and answers to some questions. (Remarks by Select Board and Housing Choice Act Working Group member Jennifer Glass in some of the slides in the deck without notes are truncated but can be accessed here.)
The guidelines beginning on page 8 of the two slide decks aim to “ensure new buildings are in keeping with the scale and character appropriate for a village center and support the high quality of design and connection to the outdoors that Lincoln values.” The slides include pictures of various types of building designs that would be acceptable and lay out guidelines with an emphasis on:
- Open space
- Front setbacks
- Enhancing connectivity through sidewalks and paths
- Minimizing the visual impact of parking
- Thoughtful landscaping with native and drought-tolerant plants whenever possible
The required site plan review for each project will continue to include minimizing impact on trees as well as imposing controls on storm water management, lighting, and hardscape. Building guidelines also call for articulated facades and use of half stories and stepbacks to break up massing. All new developments should include accessible public space such as restaurant seating, public gathering space, and street furniture.
For mixed-use buildings:
- Sidewalks and outdoor space adjacent to buildings should be designed to accommodate outdoor seating and gathering areas that complement the commercial space within the building.
- Front setback areas should be designed either as a public visual amenity or accessible public space.
Other guidelines in the draft:
- Public directional signage should follow current town signage design
- Outdoor displays must be approved by the Planning Board
- Bicycle racks are required
- Sustainability is required through the town’s Specialized Stretch Code and Ten Town Pilot Program.
Upcoming meetings:
- Rural Land Foundation forum outlining latest thoughts about redevelopment of the mall via Zoom — Thursday, Feb. 29 at 7 p.m.
- Town Meeting preview forum on Housing Choice Act — Thursday, March 14 from 7–8:30 p.m. (details TBA)
- Planning Board meeting to review and approve design guidelines to submit to Town Meeting — Tuesday, March 19 at 7 p.m. (Zoom only)
- Annual Town Meeting — Saturday, March 23 starting at 9:30 a.m. in Donaldson Auditorium
This is a helpful precis of what the proposed bylaw draft includes. I have been following the Planning Board in its process, and have been astounded at the number of consequential decisions it has made in a relatively short time. As a landscape architect and arborist, much of my interest lies with how landscape issues – site configuration, pedestrian and vehicular circulation, treatment of site-specific functions, constraints, and opportunities, the integration of green open space with architecture, etc. – and I appreciate the work the Board has done to address my questions on these issues.
I am concerned, however, about the absence of protection for existing mature trees on the rezoned parcels, and about the resulting heat island effect and diminution of air quality that may result.
I understand that the Town’s Special Stretch Code and participation in the Ten Town Pilot Program to limit fossil fuel use are required of any new buildings, which is wonderful; the less we contribute to climate change in our architectural efforts, the better. And Lincoln, with the endorsement of a huge number of organizations, boards, an commissions, just published its 2023 Climate Action Plan, which codifies many strategies for limiting Lincoln’s contribution to climate change.
The architecture of the projected private developments is indisputably important. Still, for the shared environment around new development, though, I’d love to see more consideration and more protections.
The Mall redevelopment as proposed would allow almost 100% impervious surfaces. In the RLF plans we have seen, green open space comprises the Post Office lawn, the utility area behind Donelan’s, and a strip between the new building and the road. A private second-story courtyard garden is proposed for building residents.
Under the proposed bylaw revisions, parcels on Lewis Street, Lincoln Road, and Codman Road can be cleared of trees to simplify the development of those lots for their new owners.
The mature tree stand that this part of South Lincoln currently enjoys, and that provides substantial ecosystem benefits to us all (shading the roads, cooling the area, sequestering carbon, and oxygenating our air) has no protection other than the will of the developers.
The Planning Board recognizes the value of protecting Lincoln’s tree canopy, but has said they will wait until next year to develop bylaws to provide protection. For me, the issue of preserving our common environment — not only land, but the air, water, and livable temperatures we all enjoy — is a critical one.
The Planning Board and HCA Working Group have done a tremendous job to build a new set of zoning bylaws for the proposed HCA subdistricts. I believe we now must refine those bylaws, to include the details that have a direct impact on the lives and health of Lincoln residents and our shared environment. The Climate Action Plan gives us a start toward making any proposed bylaws congruent with our values — a love of Lincoln’s trees, fresh air, and the kinship we feel with our natural environment. I think we should follow the trajectory set by the CAP in refining the HCA bylaws.
We have the time to do so — we have until December to submit a fully refined and comprehensive HCA package to the State. There’s clearly a will in Lincoln to do the very best we can in an inclusive process that draws on the expertise and intelligence of all its concerned citizens.
At the 2/26 Planning Board meeting, Planning Board members Eph Flint and Lynn DeLisi proposed a path forward to shape a better HCA package (see statement here: https://sites.google.com/view/lincoln-hca-info/news/planning-board-members-joint-statement-in-opposition-to-article-3s-bylaws). It’s a sensible approach, one that suggests a more measured and inclusive process from now until December. And it holds out hope that the State’s HCA mandate not divide our beloved community, but can instead unite it.
I dearly hope we have the will to do so, too, because what we submit will become the legacy of our town well into the future.
My inclination is to look for the positive, and to aim for better — and that’s why I plan to vote No to this version of the proposed HCA bylaws, and to participate in the creation of an even better package for submittal in December. I urge others to do so as well.
It’s important to understand that the Planning Board’s new Zoning Bylaw Amendment will allow *three-story* buildings throughout the HCA areas to be developed.
I noticed around half the photos in the slide deck were of two-story buildings, which may give an inaccurate impression of what South Lincoln could look like.
It is expected that a developer would want to maximize their investment, which means it’s likely they will build three stories as zoning allows. In my opinion, a large density of three-story buildings in the Lincoln Mall and Codman Road neighborhood would not be “in keeping with the scale and character appropriate for a village center” (as stated by the HCA Working Group’s guidelines).
I believe our town can find a better solution to comply with the HCA requirements. We have until the end of this year. Let’s take the time we need to develop a plan that a large majority of our town will support.
I want to comment on the sentence that feed back has” veered from” having development at the mall to having it spread around town.
The two points of view have been there all along and continue to this day. After the State of the Town showed approval for development at the mall, the proposals from the E team removed the development from the mall. The December Town Meeting voted to have the development at the mall. The opponents, who lost the vote, have continued to urge removal of the mall. No veering “from inclusion to.removal.” Both positions regarding inclusion at the mall are strongly held and continue to be held today.