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Donelan’s damage extensive but store hopes to reopen next week

Donelan’s in Lincoln. (Image: Google Maps)

A broken water pipe isn’t such a big deal… or is it?

Customers who tried to shop at Donelan’s Supermarket in Lincoln on Sunday, Jan. 17 were met with closed doors after a water pipe ruptured the night before. The original expectation was that the store would be closed for just a few days, but that turned out to be overly optimistic given the extent of the damage.

The pipe that broke was in the ceiling of the basement, a 600-square-foot concrete room that houses all of the store’s electrical systems and refrigeration units as well as the hot water heater. The main shopping floor was spared, but power was knocked out for the whole store (and water was temporarily shut off for the entire mall until workers could get an initial handle on the situation), and hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment had to be replaced.

“I never thought I’d see anything like that,” said store manager Jason Deveau. “It was like a scene out of Titanic.” The stairway to the basement has 14 steps, then a turn and then five more — but when he arrived, only the first four steps were above water, which was nine feet deep. “When I first saw it, I figured we were going to be out for months.”

After ServPro pumped out the water, Deveau and Paul Wheaton from Wheaton Electrical Services stayed on site for 36 hours straight to get power restored (“he’s been unbelievable,” Deveau said.) The phone system was still out of order as of Wednesday night, and national supply chain issues have delayed delivery of parts from other parts of the country.

The $250,000 refrigeration units and hot water tank should be replaced by this weekend. The only thing still missing is a sprinkler system part that’s due to arrive Friday. But the snowstorm expected this weekend and the persistent delivery delays have made Deveau cautious. He estimated that the store would reopen by Wednesday, Feb. 2 at the latest, and hopefully even a day or two before that. It’s a seven-hour job to install the part, and the store must be restocked with perishables.

Employees were offered shifts at other stores while the Lincoln one was closed, though several opted to take vacation time instead, Deveau said.

This was not the first time disaster has struck Donelan’s. The Lincoln store was closed for 15 months when the roof collapsed after a heavy snow storm in February 2011. The chain was sold in June by Joe and Jack Donelan, but the new owners have been “super supportive” during the current crisis, Deveau said.

“We’re in the home stretch,” he said on Wednesday evening. “I just want to get us back to [serving] the community because a lot of people rely on us.”

The lease you can do (Lincoln through the Lens)

“Three of the five ‘for sale/rent’ signs in front of the commercial properties across from Lincoln Station, indicative of the precarious state of Lincoln’s business district,” says photo submitter Allen Vander Meulen.

Readers may submit photos for consideration for Lincoln Through the Lens by emailing them to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. If your photo is published, you’ll receive credit in the Squirrel. Photos must be taken in Lincoln and include the date, location, and names of any people who are identifiable in the photo. Previously published photos can be viewed on the Lincoln Through the Lens page of the Lincoln Squirrel.

New restaurant hopes to open by Christmas

By year’s end, Lincolnites should have a new restaurant in town serving “elevated comfort food” using local produce.

The Select Board this week transferred the liquor license from the former owners of Real to Boston resident Michael Culpo, who bought the lease from Lindsay Parker. The Tack Room will feature a “rustic” decor and a full lunch/brunch and dinner service with reasonably priced food for everyone, “whether it’s a family coming in or someone who just wants to grab a quick bite off the commuter rail,” he told the Lincoln Squirrel late last week.

Culpo plans to serve local craft beers on tap, add more TVs and offer a kids’ menu — “we want it to be inviting for everyone,” he said. He also plans to offer catering options and delivery using online services such as Uber Eats.

The liquor license transfer still has to be approved by the state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission, which can take two months. He also needs to hire staff — something that can be challenging in the current employment market — and “I will be there every single day, working 60 to 70 hours a week, being the face of the restaurant and meeting people,” he told the Select Board.

Culpo, a Pittsfield native, is part-owner of the Black Oak Kitchen & Drinks in Coventry, R.I., and tends bar at one of its sister restaurants, Lulu’s in Allston. “I’ve been looking at different spots for a restaurant for a while, but the moment I saw this in Lincoln, I knew it was the right one,” he said.

Possible new restaurant, 5G antennas to be discussed

The liquor license for a possible new restaurant, small cell antennas, and South Lincoln planning are the topics of public hearings and meetings next week.

The Select Board will hold a hearing at 7 p.m. during its meeting on Monday, Sept. 27 on the application to transfer the liquor license from Lincoln Station Partners, Inc., which leases the property formerly occupied by the Real restaurant, to the Tack Room, Inc.

“Lindsey and Rob Parker (Lincoln Station Partners) are in the process of trying to sell the restaurant lease to another owner/operator,” said Geoff McGean, executive director of the Rural Land Foundation (RLF), which owns the Lincoln Station property. Lindsey Parker co-owned Real with Tom Fosnot and Ruth-Anne Adams of Sudbury, but the restaurant closed in November 2020 after less than two years.

After the closure, Fosnot and Adams (who now cook and deliver meals as Food for Home) told former customers in a group email that Parker had sued them. Parker listed the business for sale earlier this year. Last spring, it was announced that Tim and Bronwyn Wiechmann would open Turenne in that location, but the deal didn’t go through.

“Due to confidentiality requirements, I am not at liberty to provide any further information at this time, but it is exciting news for the town of Lincoln,” Parker said in an email on Wednesday evening. According to state records, Tack Room, Inc. is owned by Michael Culpo of South Boston, but further contact information was unavailable.

Verizon proposal

Following the liquor license hearing, Verizon will present a proposal at a 7:30 p.m. to install four small cell antennas in Lincoln: two on Trapelo Road near the intersections with Silver Hill Road and with Stratford Way, one near 66 Weston Rd., and one on Sandy Pond Road near the Five Corners intersection.

“Those are areas we get regular complaints about” regarding spotty cell coverage, Town Administrator Tim Higgins said. The town has retained a consultant to assist in the review of the technical aspects, he added.

Small cell antennas are mounted on utility poles or other existing structures as part of 5G cell phone networks.

South Lincoln

On Tuesday, Sept. 28 at 7 p.m., the Planning Board and its South Lincoln Planning Advisory Committee will hold a public forum on the results of the survey on the future of South Lincoln. The results, which were released in August, indicated that respondents want to retain viable businesses in the area but don’t want to see more parking or damage the town’s rural character. About 24% of respondents wanted no additional housing in the village center, while 27% preferred 50-100 units and 26% weren’t sure. Click here for detailed survey results and associated documentation.

As part of the information-gathering process, the town has hired the environmental engineering firm Wright-Pierce to assess the condition and future capacity of the septic system that serves Lincoln Woods and the Lincoln Station commercial area. Community Builders (TCB) owns both the septic system and the apartment complex, but the RLF has said that the mall can’t be redeveloped without an upgrade to the septic system.

Wright-Pierce began its work in July and is expected to issue an initial report early next month.

Survey shows mixed feelings about boosting development in South Lincoln

(Image by upklyak – freepik.com)

Lincoln residents want to keep the post office, restaurants, and some retail offerings in South Lincoln, but they also want to retain the town’s rural character, according to results of a survey released last week.

The Planning Board, which launched the survey in May, will host a discussion of the results on Tuesday, Sept. 28 at 7 p.m. The agenda and Zoom information will be available on the town calendar and the board’s web page prior to the meeting.

For the last two-plus years, the Planning Board has been considering changes to the zoning in the area around the Mall at Lincoln Station and the commuter rail station. The goal is to encourage more diversity in housing in that area as well as commercial activity, services, and amenities in and around the mall.

One of the drivers is a measure passed by the state in 2020 that, among other things, requires towns with a commuter rail station or other public transit (“MBTA communities”) to allow multifamily housing by right within half a mile of the station or lose access to various state grants. The specific implications for Lincoln are unclear because details still being worked out at the state level, but all towns are considered to be in compliance for now.

Among the survey data points:

  • 47% of respondents wanted to see changes in South Lincoln, while 17% did not and 36% weren’t sure.
  • The most important goals for respondents were retaining a village center with commercial businesses (80%) and supporting their economic viability (76%), followed by maintaining the town’s rural character (72%), minimizing environmental impact (70%), and ensuring accessibility for all ages and abilities (68%).
  • The features that garnered the most support were a post office (91%), retail offerings such as a grocery store (88%), and restaurants and entertainment (76%). The only feature that had more opponents than supporters was additional parking (29% to 19%, with 51% neutral).
  • 24% wanted no additional housing in the village center, while 27% preferred 50-100 units and 26% weren’t sure.
  • In a post-pandemic environment, 47% said they planned to use the commuter rail one to five times a year, while 7% said they would take the train three to five times a week and 31% said they never would.
  • The biggest factors influencing the responses were concerns about the environment and an increased focus on climate change and sustainability, followed by the increased cost of housing in the region.

The number of people who filled out the survey isn’t clear, but 91% said they own their own home, and about the same proportion are in their 40s to 70s.

Many respondents included long and thoughtful comments with their responses (the compilation is more than 80 pages long). Those comments skewed heavily toward not wanting additional development and wanting to maintain the town’s rural character. Some accused the survey writers of being pro-development and not recognizing the quality of commercial and pedestrian/bike-friendly amenities already in place. Several also called for a restaurant with a more family-friendly atmosphere and menu.

A sampling of comments:

  • “I am not sure higher-density housing near commuter rail will support persons with modest incomes to live in Lincoln as commuter rail schedules/fees are not aligned with all needs/income levels of workers.”
  • “I don’t shop at Donelan’s: limited variety, low quality, high price. Retail is struggling everywhere as people have shifted to shop on line. Only personal services (P.O., salon, dry cleaner) and fresh items will draw shoppers.”
  • “Need a family-friendly moderately-priced restaurant that serves lunch and dinner and is long term!”
  • “Don’t spend any taxpayer money on changing the town center. Leave it alone. We just spent $93 million on schools.”
  • “I want to discourage further growth in Lincoln. I’m perfectly happy to travel to other towns to keep Lincoln small and rural. If I wanted a town with more development, I would move to one.”
  • “Changing the town, in which homeowners have chosen to buy property based on the rural, undeveloped character, in order to promote the political goals of a few, is problematic.”
  • “It is essential that Lincoln broaden its population by including affordable one- or two-bedroom apartments in a dense and sustainably constructed housing development that is within walking distance of the MBTA and the mall. The DPW should move to the current site of the transfer station.”
  • “Turn the village into community/town use.”
  • “Really am not sure why a small group of development-minded people keep pushing for these changes… as with so much planning in Lincoln, it seems completely ill advised and a project that the next generation will regret for years to come.”
  • “One of my worries is that increased density will require municipal sewer and/or force us to join the MWRA for water. Lincoln’s rural character is maintained in part by the need for sufficient acreage per dwelling so that the land can support the burden we put on it. Municipal sewers would make out current zoning no longer justifiable and could threaten the rural. character of the town.”
  • “If we don’t change something, we will keep losing businesses and the town center will be a shell of itself.”
  • “The Town of Lincoln must develop a larger commercial base for the town. The taxes charged for residential homes are becoming unsustainable.”
  • “I’m strongly in favor of changes to the center to increase housing density and shopping options even if it means more vehicle traffic — and I live on Lincoln Rd.”
  • “It is not clear that residents in any new housing near Lincoln Station would drive less than other residents. It seems reasonable to assume that increased density will come with an increase in cars, especially in a town like Lincoln that simply cannot provide enough resources within walking distance to anyone.”
  • “We need to fill the vacant properties we have in South Lincoln before we begin to expand commercial/multi-use development. In expanding available housing units, is there a proven, commensurate uptick in local commercial patronization? ”
  • “I want the rural town I bought into. Just because someone got their MS in town planning doesn’t mean we have to change out the town to stroke their edifice complex. Biased questions — should have a column for ‘leave what we bought into alone’.”
  • “Lincoln is long overdue to add business and cultural opportunities and help reduce the tax burden on its residents. Soon only the ultra-rich will be able to afford living in Lincoln.”
  • “Too many apartments and condos already.”

Correction

The June 9 article headlined “Donelan’s grocery stores purchased by Patel Brothers” incorrectly stated that the four Donelan’s Supermarkets were being sold to the national Patel Brothers Indian grocery chain. The stores are in fact being purchased by a family including father and son Gohal and Mohanbhai Patel, who own or have an interest in 10 convenience and food stores with various names in (eight in New Hampshire and on each in Maine and Massachusetts). 

The closest Patel store to Lincoln is in Pepperell, site of another former Domelan’s supermarket and now called Quality Market. The four recently purchased stores will retain the Donelan’s name — “the idea here is to continue with the tradition of Donelan’s as a family business,” said Alex Parra, attorney for the Patels.

The original article has been updated to reflect this correction and new information.

Donelan’s grocery stores purchased by Patel family

Donelan’s in Lincoln. (Image: Google Maps)

(Editor’s note: This article was changed on June 13 to reflect corrections about the stores’ buyers.)

Lincoln’s only grocery store is about to change hands for the first time since it opened at Lincoln Station 45 years ago.

Brothers Joe and Jack Donelan are selling the grocery stores that bear their name to a family including father and son Gohal and Mohanbhai Patel that owns or has an interest in 10 convenience and food stores with various names in (eight in New Hampshire and on each in Maine and Massachusetts). The new owners have retained all of the existing staff at the Lincoln store and are taking over the beer and wine license as well.

The Donelans are selling all their stock interest in the four stores (the others are in Acton, Wayland, and Littleton) but will stay on for the time being as directors of the corporation to assist in the transition. 

“We may try to bring new food products, but the [Donelan’s] quality and customer service will remain the same,” Mohanbhai Patel told the Select Board during a June 7 public hearing on the liquor license transfer. “We’ll try something different than what they have right now… we’ll see what people like and don’t like, and keep what people like. We’re very excited to become part of the Lincoln community and we’ll try our best to make the community happy.”

The closest Patel store to Lincoln is in Pepperell, site of another former Donelan’s supermarket and now called Quality Market. The four recently purchased stores will retain the Donelan’s name. “The idea here is to continue with the tradition of Donelan’s as a family business,” said Alex Parra, attorney for the Patels.

The Select Board praised the Donelan brothers for their decades of support for town events and charities. “I want to thank them for their friendliness and being a key part of our community over the years,” board chair Jonathan Dwyer said.

“The people of Lincoln have been fabulous to us, and we’re going to miss Lincoln,” Jack Donelan said.

The first Donelan’s opened in Littleton in 1948 and the Lincoln location debuted in 1976 in the new mall. Joe and Jack Donelan bought the company from their father in 1985, and by the 1990s there were six stores in the chain (locations in Groton and Pepperell eventually closed). 

The Lincoln store had its ups and downs as well. It added 5,000 square feet in 2009 after taking over the space formerly occupied by the post office. But the store had to close for almost 16 months after the roof collapsed under heavy snow in February 2011, and at the time there was uncertainty whether it would reopen at all. The Donelans filed a legal complaint against the Rural Land Foundation, which owns the mall property, but the dispute was settled a year after the roof collapse.

In recent months there were rumors that one or more Donelan’s stores might close — rumors that were denied by corporate headquarters in Littleton when asked by the Lincoln Squirrel.

Before the mall was built, Lincoln residents bought groceries at the Community Store, which operated out of what was then a pink stucco building across the street in the building whose tenants now include Barrett Sotheby’s International Realty.

Environmental measures, name changes to go before voters on Saturday

Voters at Saturday’s annual Town Meeting (ATM) will be asked to vote on five citizens’ petitions concerning plastics and the proposed community center, as well as two other measures seeking town board name changes.

The items were originally planned for the 2020 Annual Town Meeting, but that meeting was stripped of all but essential financial items due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Members of the L-S Environmental Club and Mothers Out Front–Lincoln made their case for three environment-related measures at the April 26 Board of Selectmen meeting.

Article 37, the Polystyrene Reduction Bylaw, would prohibit food and retail establishments in Lincoln from using or selling disposal food service containers made from polystyrene. It would also not allow sales of other items containing the substance (packing peanuts, Styrofoam coolers and coffee cups, meat and produce trays, etc.) unless the polystyrene is fully encased in a more durable material. The bylaw would not apply to prepared food or other items packaged outside Lincoln with polystyrene.

More recycling is not the answer, because polystyrene is a major contaminant in town recycling, and food-grade polystyrene manufacture requires the use of “virgin” materials, the presenters said. Particles from polystyrene and other plastics are also a health hazard for both people and animals as they degrade into microplastics and release toxins. Almost 40 other Massachusetts communities have already enacted polystyrene bans, they said.

For similar reasons, Article 39 would ban the sale and use of plastic straws, stirrers, splash sticks and other disposable plastics. Plastic straws contain toxic bisphenol-A, and all plastics release minute amounts of health-endangering chemicals into food and water.

Tricia O’Hagen of Mothers Out Front told selectmen that Donelan’s and Twisted Tree had no problem with the measures since they’re already using more environmentally friendly materials in items they sell. Under the proposed ban, food establishments may still provide disposable non-plastic items of this type if the customers request them, and customers can still bring with them and use whatever items they like. If enacted, there will be a six-month waiver to allow businesses to draw down existing inventory.

A third measure before voters, Article 38, would authorize the town to petition the state legislature to allow a local rule that would require Lincoln retailers to charge at least 10 cents for each new checkout bag of any type, including paper.

Lincoln has already enacted a ban on disposable plastic shopping bags and similar materials. However, that policy encourages people to use disposable paper bags rather than reusable bags. While paper bags are more degradable than plastic, they have their own drawbacks: the manufacturing process releases greenhouse gases and other chemicals and uses a significant amount of water.

The money to be collected is not a tax but would remain with the retailer. An easily avoidable bag charge encourages consumers to opt for non-woven polypropylene or cloth bags, which are cheaper in the long run, so the measure makes sense for both businesses and customers, the presenters said.

“We’re trying to get away from single-use items as much as possible,” O’Hagen said. Several Massachusetts cities as well as states and countries have already enacted minimum bag charges, she added.

Climate action, community center

Voters will be asked to adopt a resolution in support of the country’s continuing participation in the Paris Climate Accord, and action by the state legislature to promote climate justice and expand the use of clean energy.

In the year since the measure was originally scheduled for a vote, President Biden reversed former President Trump’s move to have the United States withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord — and Gov. Baker also signed comprehensive climate legislation.

However, the ATM vote on Article 36 is still important to signal that Lincoln will closely follow the issue to make sure deadlines in the legislation are met, while encouraging town leaders to keep working to reduce Lincoln’s carbon footprint, said Paul Shorb, one of the sponsors of the citizens’ petition. The message of a “yes” vote is to “go faster and be bold while trying to be fair to everybody,” he said.

Article 40 would require town officials to give an update on the status of a new community center for Lincoln. When the issue was most recently under discussion in 2018, town officials agreed that the school project took precedence but that Lincoln could afford further borrowing on a community center as soon as the school was finished.

In 2018, the Community Center Planning and Preliminary Design Committee submitted its final report outlining two possible design directions for the facility, which was then estimated to cost $15.3 million to $16.2 million depending on which design was chosen.

The 2018 report proposed a timeline with one date that has already passed—establishing a Community Center Building Committee starting in November 2020. The CCPPDC also proposed a March 2021 Town Meeting vote on budget and site, but the pandemic pushed it to the back burner.

The Council on Aging and the Parks and Recreation Department both have well-documented needs for more and better space, and a community center would answer those needs and would also “connect the generations in town,” said Selectman Jonathan Dwyer, the board’s liaison to the CCPPDC.

The year 2023 is “wide open for a project like this,” since the school project will be completed, and the Finance Committee says the town has additional borrowing capacity of $27 million, Dwyer said. Officials hope to discuss next steps at the fall 2021 State of the Town meeting, he added.

Name changes

Also on the ATM agenda are two other items that were discussed last year but postponed: name changes for the Council on Aging (Article 26) and the Board of Selectmen (Article 24). If voters approve, they will be called the Council on Aging and Human Services and the Select Board, respectively.

The Town Meeting starts on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. under the tent in the Hartwell School lot. For information on the articles to be voted on, see Lincoln’s Annual Town Meeting web page.

Clark Gallery moving from mall to Lewis Street

The Clark Gallery was packing up on Thursday.

(Editor’s note: this story was updated on April 23 to include a comment from Christina Van Vleck.)

The Clark Gallery in the Mall at Lincoln Station is moving across Lincoln Road to the recently refurbished commercial space on the ground floor of 2 Lewis St. and may open in their new location as early as next week.

Geoff McGean, executive director of the Rural Land Foundation, which owns the mall, confirmed the move. The gallery was a tenant at will in its 1,400-square-foot space and will not be liable for any future lease payments.

The 2,300-square-foot space that the gallery will occupy includes a kitchenette and ADA-compliant bathrooms, according to the property’s website.

Van Vleck and her husband began renovating the upper floors of the distinctive Lewis Street property (also known as the 1870 Wyman Cook House) in late 2016 with the plan that their family would live there. Last year, they started renovating the retail space on the building’s east side adjacent to the railroad tracks after the MassDOT field office, travel agency, and barber shop left, and Lincoln Cleaners moved to 10 Lewis St. with an entrance abutting the tracks.

Clark Gallery owner Dana Salvo said he was in talks with the Lewis Street owners from very early in the renovation planning and wouldn’t have signed the 10-year lease unless he could occupy both units on the ground floor. “I don’t think they imagined one tenant” at the outset, “but it was good timing — when they knew they were going to have just one tenant, it really opened up what they could do with the space upstairs,” he said. “They’ve done such a good job with that building. They have a really good eye and a good vision.”

“We received a great deal of interest in the space,” Van Vleck said. “Given that septic constraints currently preclude any food service establishments, the gallery feels like a wonderful opportunity to welcome the community in to experience the newly renovated space and enjoy the beautiful artwork featured in the gallery’s collection.

The 1,375-square-foot commercial space on the second floor is occupied by a tech start-up run by a local Lincoln business owner, she said.

A Lincoln Road view of the renovated space.

The goal for the new Clark Gallery space is not necessarily to attract a higher volume of visitors, “but it just allows us to program a bit differently,” Salvo said. “Contemporary art is a really small niche — I don’t get a lot of foot traffic. People that come are intentional.”

One of the things he didn’t have before is the brick patio along Lincoln Road, which might accommodate outdoor seating and one or more Clark sculptures. Three of its sculptures are now on the lawn in front of the restaurant, he noted.

“I like being in Lincoln in a destination space and that’s not really changing. It’s not like I’m moving” out of town, said Salvo, noting that the gallery has been in the mall for about 30 years.

The RLF is looking for a new tenant for the Clark Gallery’s former mall space and “we’ll be focused initially on trying to find a retail tenant,” McGean said. “We continue to look at all options for improving the vibrancy of Lincoln Station.”

New restaurant not opening this month after all

Lincolnites who were eagerly anticipating a new restaurant in town this spring will be disappointed, as plans to open Turenne have fallen though.

Tim and Bronwyn Wiechmann announced in February that they would be operating “Turenne in Lincoln” in South Lincoln, opening this month to succeed Real in space owned by the Rural Land Foundation (RLF).

However, “Lindsey Parker just informed us that her partnership with Turenne ended,” Geoff McGean, executive director of the RLF, told the Lincoln Squirrel on April 18. “We do not know any details, but from what she shared with us, Bronwyn and Tim from Turenne were brought in as potential operators of the restaurant but ultimately they could not reach an arrangement that worked for both parties.”

Real was owned jointly by Lindsay Parker of Concord and Tom Fosnot and Ruth-Anne Adams of Sudbury but closed in November 2020 after less than two years. Fosnot and Adams left the partnership and Parker became sole owner of a restaurant that now had no chef or operations staff.

McGean said that Parker, who holds the lease as Lincoln Station Partners, is looking for a new operator but has also listed the business and its assets for sale for $275,000, according to a listing sheet from the Boston Restaurant Group, Inc.

Requests for comment from Parker and the Wiechmanns were not immediately returned on Sunday.