The Lincoln Squirrel – News, features and photos from Lincoln, Mass.

land use

Proposal would clear-cut and replant several wooded acres

The three lots owned by the Plauts are outlined in blue (click to enlarge).

Editor’s note: This article was updated on March 19, 2025.

The owners of three lots on Old Winter Street totaling 8.5 wooded acres want to clear-cut about one-third of the land, regrade part of it for a driveway, and plant new native trees and shrubs.

The Planning Board held a hearing on the landscaping plan on March 11, which will be continued on March 25. The applicants, Timothy and Madeleine Plaut, are hoping to get approval for cutting down 137 mature trees, installing a driveway, and planting 268 new trees of varying sizes before going back to the board to seek approval for a single-family house in the southwestern area of the three-lot parcel.

The Plauts currently live in London and own several other properties around the world, though they hope to split their time between Lincoln and Europe once their new home is built, according to the narrative supplied by their landscape architect. They bought the properties in April 2024 from Thomas and Katherine DeNormandie.

The Plauts, who are in their late 60s, want to create a more diverse “three-layered woodland” by replacing some of the white pines and invasive species with local plantings, shrubs, ground cover, and pollinator meadows without a formal lawn area, modeling it after Garden in the Woods in Framingham, said Jen Stephens of Matthew Cunningham Landscape Design. 

“They very much see this as a legacy property and are anxious to get plantings underway,” she said. 

The property owners hope to clear-cut, regrade and replant the area in darker green (click to enlarge).

“Philosophically, we’re pretty aligned with this project… it’s a better outcome than it could have been for the neighborhood,” said Justin Hopson, one of the abutters, noting that zoning rules allow a house on each of the three lots.

However, one aspect of the project met with opposition: the plan to install a permanent driveway from Old Winter Street rather than from Silver Hill Road, as the owners originally proposed. The latter idea was rejected by the Conservation Commission (ConCom) because a driveway, even if unpaved, is considered a “permanent structure” and is therefore prohibited in the wetlands just east of Silver Hill Road. 

A permanent driveway from Old Winter Street won’t be a major problem for the neighborhood, but during landscaping, utilities, and house construction, “there will be a huge amount of disruption” to an area with four nearby homes with young families, said abutter Chris Murphy. It’s “insane” for the Conservation Commission to route construction traffic from Old Winter Street when a much shorter temporary construction driveway could be built coming off Silver Hill Road, he said. That strip of land could later be restored, Stephens suggested.

Planning Board Chair Margaret Olson asked Susan Hall Mygatt, a ConCom member who was at the board’s meeting, to get a sense of the commission’s willingness to change its regulations to allow the temporary access road, if in fact those rules “are forcing [the owners]  to do something that none us think is environmentally the right thing to do.” Stephens said she would try to get on the commission’s March 26 agenda for that purpose. The Planning Board might be able to give its landscaping plan approval contingent on ConCom’s permission to move the temporary driveway, Olson said.

My Turn: Proposed private-jet Hanscom expansion is a climate bomb in sheep’s clothing

By Alex Chatfield

Fellow Lincolnites: Don’t let Massport pull the wool over our eyes. The proposal for an immense private jet hangar facility at Hanscom Field is a climate bomb in sheep’s clothing that must be stopped. Hanscom Field civilian airport is owned and operated by Massport, and is distinct from Hanscom Air Force Base which focuses on research and development and has no airfield. 

Private jets are the most carbon-intensive form of travel per passenger, and frequently used for leisure and convenience. Expanding this form of travel in the midst of a climate crisis is indefensible. For this reason, Massport and prospective developers have packaged their enormous 522,000-square-foot, highly polluting proposal as a model of “sustainable aviation” to distract the public and policymakers.

A 5-minute CBS News segment on “How Airports are ‘Greenwashing’ their Reputations” reveals that when airports claim to be sustainable, they are referring solely to their green buildings and infrastructure, which comprise only 2% of the emissions generated at airports, while excluding aircraft emissions, which constitute the remaining 98%.

The CBS report further spotlights the hope and hype surrounding sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs), which the prospective Hanscom developers enthusiastically tout, saying their new facility will promote SAFs. This claim is misleading on several counts. First, the word “promote” holds little weight since, as the CBS report discloses, the FAA prohibits airports or airport facilities from requiring a specific type of fuel. Second, by the Hanscom developers’ own admission, “the aviation industry projects use of alternative/clean-fuel aircraft (i.e., electric or SAF) to be approximately 10 percent of aircraft by 2030” (see the developers’ DEIR [Draft Environmental Impact Report], Section 3.1.3).

These points were reinforced by a January 8 webinar on SAFs attended by nearly 200 participants statewide. After examining several types of SAFs, independent analysts from MIT, the World Resources Institute, and the Institute for Policy Studies cautioned that while SAFs are technically feasible, it is not likely that they will be available at scale by 2050, the year that scientists say we must reach net zero to avert the worst impacts of climate change. 

Moreover, the trade-offs with SAF production at scale are daunting. Crop-based SAFs would sabotage food production by hijacking arable land for jet fuel. For example, to reach the current U.S. goal of 35 billion gallons of SAF in 2050 would require 114 million acres of corn—20 percent more than the current total land area of corn crops in the U.S. Meanwhile, synthetic SAFs for jets would put an enormous burden on the electric grid, competing with internet, AI, heat/AC, light and refrigeration.

Concerns about greenwashing were echoed by area Select Board members and our state legislators at the January 28 virtual HATS meeting (Hanscom-Area Town Selectboards) with new Massport CEO Rich Davey.

Mark Sandeen, chair of HATS stated that, if the proposed private jet expansion were to go forward, the 75 or so additional private jets at the new facility would generate more emissions than all of the houses and cars in Lexington, Bedford, Concord and Lincoln combined. “You’re looking at a group of people here who dedicated decades of their lives to reducing the emissions of their towns, and to see one project wipe out any possibility of success… we don’t view that as small,” he said.

State Sen. Mike Barrett posited to Davey that “there is a sense in which you’re rolling out SAFs, I think, as a shield and in order to disarm us,” a point that Davey heatedly denied, referencing an SAF startup in Charlestown in his defense. To this, Barrett replied: “We have lots of startups in Massachusetts that hope someday to cure cancer, and we certainly want to encourage them to try. But none of us go out and encourage our kids to smoke cigarettes because the cure is going to come in their lifetimes.”

Christopher Eliot, chair of HFAC (Hanscom Field Advisory Commission, representing the four Hanscom-area towns) added that after studying SAFs in “excruciating detail,” he doesn’t believe they have technical merit: “Each new version solves one problem and creates two others… They’re either going to blow out agriculture or blow out the electrical system.” 

Speaking for many, Eliot shared this comment: “The only thing that’s acceptable to anybody… here is the status quo… there’s none who would have any tolerance for the expansion.” 

Eliot’s view is shared by more than 14,000 people across the Commonwealth that have signed a petition urging Gov. Healey to take all possible action to stop private jet expansion at Hanscom or anywhere because it is antithetical to Massachusetts’ efforts to rein in climate change.

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Updates to outdoor lighting rules mulled

Examples of permitted and unacceptable outdoor lighting from 2015. The yellow dots indicates the position of the lightbulb.

At the December 7 State of the Town meeting, the Dark Skies Committee will give an update on its work to update rules on outdoor lighting to reflect changes in technology since they were last amended in 2016.

Artificial light at night keeps away wildlife (thus reducing their habitat), kills insects, and interferes with nocturnal breeding cycles and bird migration, said Louise Bergeron, head of the Planning Board subcommittee, in a presentation at the November 18 Select Board meeting.

Current zoning rules require permanent lighting to be installed or shielded to “prevent direct light or glare from the light source from interfering with the vision of motorists or pedestrians” or illuminating neighboring properties, and exterior lamps to have a color temperature of 3,000K or below. Lights must also be no more than 900 lumens (a measure of brightness). Color temperature refers to the color of the light — the lower the temperature, the more orange it appears, whereas higher-temperature numbers indicate bluer light.

Outdoor lighting was the topic of heated debate at Town Meeting in 2015, when voters rejected some rule changes.

In recent years, LED lights — which tend to have a cooler color temperature than incandescent lights — have become commonplace, and people are often tempted to buy the brightest outdoor lights they can, Bergeron said. Her group is also studying ideas such as allowing only activated lights in certain circumstances, and asking or requiring owners of larger buildings to turn off outdoor lights that currently shine all night, such as those in parking lots, schools, churches, and the Water Department.

Town officials can grant exceptions if warranted, and the public safety will continue to be exempt.

“This is a lot about education,” Select Board member Jennifer Glass said. “You’re going to get the best result when you educate people, because we don’t have the capacity to go around policing everyone.”

Construction at The Commons to begin in early 2025

An illustration showing proposed new construction in yellow and new walking paths are shown in bright green. Click image to enlarge.

The owners of The Commons in Lincoln won approval for their planned expansion earlier this month, though the exact construction schedule is still unclear.

The Planning Board gave its thumbs-up on November 12 after the close of public hearings, concluding a process that began in February 2023. Residents of the senior living community objected to the original plan for 47 new independent living units, so The Commons returned with scaled-down plan for 23 units, and voters approved a zoning amendment to allows the project in December 2023. More recently, owners updated the plans for landscaping and the location of new parking spaces.

At the hearing in September, representatives for The Commons said that construction would begin with the additions to the main building. Cottages will be on their own timeframe and isolated with fencing as separate construction sites. sites

“We are excited to get started in Q1 of 2025 and will be happy to share more phasing details after our financing on the project has closed,” Rey LeBlanc, executive director of The Commons, told the Squirrel last week.

My Turn: Climate bill gives hope to opponents of Hanscom expansion

By Alex Chatfield, Trish O’Hagan, Lara Sullivan, and Kati Winchell

The climate bill just signed by Gov. Healey contains a provision that was not noted in the official summary but is profoundly important — an update to the Massport charter. From now on, Massport will be required to promote “environmental protection and resilience, reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, and environmental justice principles” in its decisions regarding its responsibilities and the entities with which it does business. Massport’s responsibilities, currently limited to the narrow roles of promoting commerce and economic growth, will therefore expand to include climate priorities. 

This update is encouraging to advocates across Massachusetts who oppose the proposed expansion of private jet infrastructure at Massport-owned Hanscom Field (separate from Hanscom Air Force Base). Massport is currently working with private developers to build a 522,380-square-foot expansion in hangar space for private jets — the largest such expansion in Hanscom’s history. An October 2023 study documented that at least half the private jet flights out of Hanscom go to vacation destinations like Martha’s Vineyard or the Super Bowl. They are airborne yachts for the ultra-wealthy.

Massport’s and Runway Realty Venture Inc.’s proposal for expansion has generated a storm of controversy. Opposition has been led by Stop Private Jet Expansion at Hanscom or Anywhere (SPJE). SPJE observes, based on an April independent analysis, that the proposed private jet hangar development at Hanscom alone could result in as many as 6,000 additional private jet flights annually, producing about 150,000 tons of carbon equivalent emissions every single year. If the expansion goes forward, private jet emissions from Hanscom alone could cancel nearly 70% of the environmental benefits of all the solar PV ever installed in Massachusetts and would offset the investment and hard work of many towns and cities to help the state meet the goals of its ambitious climate plans.

The legislation updating Massport’s charter follows EEA Secretary Tepper’s rejection of the developers’ draft environmental impact report (DEIR) in June. More than 1,500 public comments and over 13,500 petition signatures critical of the developers’ plans were submitted to MEPA (Mass. Office of Environmental Policy Act). Based in part on the volume of public response, as well as on independent analyses that were submitted, Tepper criticized the developers’ argument that the massive hangar expansion would decrease operations and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, calling it unsupported. She found that the report did not meet the requirements of Massachusetts law and directed the developers to produce a Supplemental DEIR that would address the many questions that the initial draft failed to consider adequately.

This was the context in which state Sen. Mike Barrett and Reps. Simon Cataldo, Michelle Ciccolo, Carmine Gentile, Ken Gordon, and Alice Peisch introduced language into the Mass. Climate Bill that would update Massport’s charter to prioritize reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. The Senate passed the bill on October 24 with a vote of 38-2, followed by a House vote of 128-17 on November 14. And on November 20, Gov. Healey signed it.

Sen. Barrett left no doubt that he expected the new language to prompt Massport to reconsider the project. “We live in an age where rampant economic growth is no longer sufficient as a raison d’etre for public agencies,” he said. “The governor has said that an all-government approach to climate change is needed, so now we ask of every single organization — Massport included — ‘What’s your role in fighting the existential crisis of our time?’” 

This is a pivotal moment. The legislature’s overwhelming support for a change in Massport’s charter sends a powerful message that the agency needs to align its own approach to climate change with the approach taken by the rest of the state. Massport’s first chance to show that it understands this new environment will be its stance toward the proposed Hanscom expansion. It’s already clear that that expansion is completely inconsistent with state climate change policy. It’s time for Massport to just say no.

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Town to relax some rules for accessory apartments

The state recently relaxed some of its rules on building accessory dwelling units (ADUs, or accessory apartments), and Lincoln residents will be asked at Town Meeting in March to amend the town’s zoning bylaw to match.

The state law, which was enacted in August and goes into effect on Feb. 2, 2025, allows ADUs smaller than 900 square feet to be built as of right in single family residential districts. Updating Lincoln’s rules “is technically not necessary as state law trumps our bylaw, but it removes potential confusion,” Planning Board Chair Margaret Olson said.

Lincoln allows ADUs of up to 1,200 square feet. For ADUs to which the new state law doesn’t apply (those measuring 900–1,200 square feet), the town will still require owner occupancy and also a special permit if the unit is in a separate building.

Previous changes to the town’s ADU rules in town were made in 2023, when ADUs were permitted in a home’s main dwelling by right (as long as applicants followed the rest of the bylaw’s rules), and in 2021, when Town Meeting approved language on ADU leases and the total number of ADUs allowed.

Olson didn’t immediately know how many ADUs currently exist in town but said most of them are family-related — usually occupied by older residents whose adult children move into the main house.

Property sales in September 2024

3A South Commons — Brian Hurley to Roberto Mercado Jr. and Kalsey Mercado for $590,000 (September 30)

133 Bedford Rd. — Dorothy Taylor Trust to Kelsey Flynn and Justin Saglio for $1,130,000 (September 30)

41 Todd Pond Rd. — Susan Peacock to Greg Salomon for $604,500 (September 26)

16A North Commons — Marissa Lisec to Rezarta Memelli for $270,000 (September 24)

36 Old Sudbury Rd. — Karl Zuelke to Karl L. Zuelke Trust and Marichu Zuekle Trust for $600,000 (September 20)

41 Stony Brook Rd. — Lochiel Crafter to Rastislav Vazny for $3,750,000 (September 10)

24 Sandy Pond Rd. — Douglas A. Melton Trust to Timothy P. von Hermann Trust and Susan M. von Hermann Trust for $2,050,000 (September 4)

Property sales in August 2024

15 Greenridge Lane — Lisa Patterson to Apurv Gupta and Celia Chang for $705,000 (August 29)

15 Orchard Lane — Augustine Lin Trust to Marchese Development LLC for $775,000 (August 29)

43 Deerhaven Rd. — Chauncy C. Chu Trust to the Fatmata Osesina Trust and the Olukayode Isaac Osesina Trust for $1,150,000 (August 28)

90 Winter St. — Elisa Soykan to Evan and Christy Cull for $2,290,000 (August 27)

22 Juniper Ridge Rd. — Jinquan Liu to Douglas and Shahinaz Carson for $45,000 (sic) (August 15)

17 Bedford Lane — Deborah Dorsey to HSBC Bank USA c/o Nationstar Mortgage LLC for $890,514 (August 8)

95 Tower Rd.— Sherine Freeth to David and Sarah DeBlasio for $1,387,000 (August 8)

105 Tower Rd. — Shawn Lyons to Sian and Philip McGurk for $1,750,000 (August 1)

With HCA-compliant rezoning, town now qualifies for new state grants

A podium at an October 1 ceremony recognizing the 33 cities and towns that are now eligible for HCA-related state grants.

Lincoln is one of 33 towns that are now eligible for a new state grant program by virtue of having its rezoning approved by the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities.

The rezoning measure to allow more multifamily housing was required to comply with the Housing Choice Act. It was mired in controversy last winter in Lincoln but ultimately passed in March. More than 70 cities and towns have passed HCA zoning, with many more expected at Town Meetings this fall.

Earlier this year, the Healey-Driscoll Administration created the $15 million MBTA Communities Catalyst Fund, a capital grant program that recognizes that promoting housing growth in communities requires additional resources and makes available funding to support activities related to housing creation, infrastructure projects associated with housing, and acquisition of property to promote housing.

Funding for the Catalyst program is available for fiscal 2025, fiscal 2026 and fiscal 2027.  Awards will typically fund projects with grant requests between $250,000 and $1 million, according to the EOHLC. Conversely, the state has said that cities and towns that don’t approve HCA-friendly doing by their given deadline will become ineligible for several existing grant programs.

The Catalyst program allows towns to partner with private companies in enabling multifamily housing projects, Tim Higgins noted at the October 7 Select Board meeting. Upgrading the South Lincoln wastewater treatment plant, among other Lincoln-specific ideas, would seem to qualify.

“That gets my wheels spinning,” Select Board member Jim Hutchinson said.

The Commons presents details on plan; hopes to break ground in winter

Green numbers show where parking will be added. New surface spaces are shown in purple (click to enlarge). Existing tree are shown as circles with dotted lines.

At the first session this week of a public hearing on the site plan for expanding The Commons in Lincoln, presenters outlined some minor changes from the plan that was first aired almost a year ago. The Planning Board’s September 10 hearing will be continued to October 2 at 7:05 p.m.

At a Special Town Meeting in December 2023, residents approved rezoning the parcel, a first step in a process that also requires additional approvals from the Planning Board and others, including environmental officials.

As before, the plan calls for 28 new independent living units (14 two-bedroom units in the Flint building, six one-bedroom units in the Russell building, and eight new cottages). The Flint units will be in a separate structure connected to the main building with a sky bridge on the second and third floors.

The net addition of 52 parking spaces on the campus and more connecting sidewalks also hasn’t changed. However, the surface parking will be slightly rearranged so they’re located where they’re most needed on a campus where parking is tight for aides and visitors.

New trees to be planted are indicated in green (click to enlarge).

“The issue wasn’t the quantity of spaces but the location,” said Chris Fee of landscape architecture firm Stantec. “We tried to locate the new parking at three locations where we have problems, in addition to spots for [residents of] new buildings, so this should go a long way to help solve the parking problem.”

Another landscaping change from the previous plan: the existing community garden will be relocated, but a new bocce court and two additional smaller gardens are being deferred. Some trees that weren’t specified at the public hearing will be removed, but several dozen new ones will be planted, along with native plants are also being chosen in coordination with a resident group.

If all goes as planned, construction will begin in the first quarter of 2025 and will take a total of almost two years, though the cottages will be treated as separate construction sites and built on their own timeframe.