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

land use

Public hearings coming up

The Historic District Commission will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, June 11 at 7:30 p.m. to consider the following applications:

  • First Parish Church, for a Certificate of Appropriateness to install roof-mounted solar panels on the Parsonage at 14 Bedford Rd.
  • Michael Barnicle and Anne Finucane for a Certificate of Appropriateness to replace two windows on the front of the house at 20 Trapelo Rd.
  • David Jacobs and Louise Akillian for a Certificate of Appropriateness to reinstate a balustrade above the side sunroom at 2 Weston Rd.

The Conservation Commission will hold two public hearings on Wednesday, June 12:

  • 7:30 p.m. — Request for Determination of Applicability filed by Michael C. Sheahan for the construction of an attached mudroom, an awning over the steps of the main entrance, and a second floor deck in the buffer zone at 219 Concord Rd.
  • 8 p.m. — Notice of Intent filed by Robert Hill for the construction of a barn with a grass paver drive-up and drip edge infiltration drainage in the buffer zone at 19 Warbler Springs Rd.

The Zoning Board of Appeals will hold a public hearing on Thursday, June 13 at 7:30 p.m. to hear and act on the following petitions:

  • Richard Jensen, 161 Concord Rd., for renewal of a special permit for an accessory apartment.
  • Richard Albert, 190 Bedford Rd., for a special permit to construct a deck with pergola on a non-conforming lot.
  • 170 South Great Road LLC, 170 South Great Road, for a special permit to sell used passenger vehicles.

Group unveils proposals to boost South Lincoln development

A map showing locations of the proposed South Lincoln Village District subareas (click to enlarge).

A town committee is proposing new zoning and a special permitting process to allow denser and more diverse commercial and residential development in South Lincoln. A set of proposed zoning bylaw amendments will be up for discussion at the State of the Town meeting in the fall and a Town Meeting vote in March 2020.

The Village Planning and Zoning group (a subcommittee of the South Lincoln Planning and Implementation Committee) presented its work at a public forum on May 7. The group is one of several SPLIC teams, along with Placemaking, Wayfinding, and MBTA. SPLIC also commissioned a recent study of Department of Public Works needs and potential alternate locations.

The new South Lincoln Village District would have two subareas: business, which emphasizes commercial or mixed use, and residential, which provides a variety of housing options close to transit and retail amenities. The residential subarea would allow buildings up to three and a half stories further back from Lincoln Road to accommodate greater density.

• This series of slides summarizes the work of the Village Planning and Zoning group

Most uses already allowed by current zoning would be allowed by right with a site plan review. Other uses — such as multifamily housing and artist live-work studios in the residential subarea or mixed-use development, restaurants, brew pubs and service stations in the business subarea — would require a special permit.

To get this permit in the residential subarea, up to 15% of the housing would have to be affordable to low-income, residents — and another 10% affordable to middle-income residents.

“That’s a subset that’s missing in Lincoln—people that are not low-income but still can’t afford to move here,” said Alexis Smith, a senior planner with the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, which awarded the town a $15,000 grant and assistance with the zoning and design guideline work. (Lincoln also received a $25,000 Community Compact Grant.)

To receive a special permit from the Planning Board, projects must also conform to specific design guidelines that could accommodate both modern and traditional designs, so “it won’t all look like Ye Olde Town Center,” as one resident at the forum commented. Projects exceeding special permit uses and densities could seek Town Meeting approval through South Lincoln Overlay District process.

Some residents worried about helping the business spaces already in South Lincoln succeed in addition to encouraging new ventures. Smith assured them that denser and more affordable housing would “create the foot traffic that would support those businesses and bring down those vacancy levels.”

“We definitely want to give a stronger footing to the businesses we do have,” said SPLIC member Gary Taylor.

Another resident was wary. “This is like a Pandora’s box. Once you change the zoning law, you don’t know what you’re going to get. Lincoln has a certain character, and that’s the reason I moved here,” he said.

But resident Jon Lynch was supportive. “This is really where Lincoln Center should be,” with development around the MBTA mass transit hub, he said. “We don’t have a critical mass of people… if we had stuff there, people would get off the train and do something instead of just jumping in their car and driving away. We have to get cars to stop thinking of [South Lincoln] as a drive-through.”

Sara Mattes urged more work on increasing parking capacity and fixing the MBTA station, saying denser housing could create an undue strain on public services and septic capacity. Director of Planning and Land Use Jennifer Burney assured her that the town is in fact doing a parking study for the commuter and business lots. Lincoln has also applied for another $400,000 Complete Streets grant to enable walkability and parking improvements, she added.

“With the school [project] and taxes, increasing the tax base is really important, so there’s urgency from another perspective,” Peyton Marshall said.

Attracting more residents and commercial development is crucial for Lincoln’s future, Ken Hurd said. “This is a death knell for this town if we don’t address it and attract younger folks.”

Board hears options for DPW alternate sites and construction

A sketch by Weston and Sampson of how the Lewis Street DPW site might be reconfigured (click to enlarge).

Consulting engineers detailed the need for new Department of Public Works facilities in a presentation to the Board of Selectmen — but with the school project underway and a new community center up next, the town isn’t likely to have the money for a major upgrade any time soon.

As part of a larger project to look at rezoning and redeveloping parts of South Lincoln, Weston and Sampson was hired in 2017 to identify the current and future needs of the DPW and to identify a potential site to address those needs. Their report released in January suggested a new facility costing about $15 million.

The Lewis Street DPW facility was built in the 1950s and 1960s, “and there’s been a significant increase in their responsibilities, but the facility really hasn’t kept pace,” Jeffrey Alberti, vice president and general manager of the Facilities division at Weston and Sampson, told the board at its April 22 meeting. The covered vehicle storage space is inadequate; “they do a great job of packing them in like sardines” with only inches of clearance, while other equipment is stored in makeshift structures of concrete blocks.

The facility is also out of compliance with current mechanical, fire, and plumbing codes and presents “safety concerns and operational inefficiencies,” Alberti said.

The firm showed a sketch of how one might reconfigure the current DPW site with new structures including enclosed maintenance, vehicle leaning and storage areas, but even then, the school buses now parked there would probably have to move to another new site. “It becomes tight once you start developing it with a new building,” Alberti said. “And it’s not really allowing for many other public functions” such as public parking or a public septic system.”

The firm drew up a list of potential sites for a refurbished or related DPW bases on the properties’ size, zoning, current use, floodplain, wetlands, conservation designation (if any) and present use. Other possible sites identified in the study are on:

  1. Old Bedford Road across from Battle Farm Road, on land owned by the Massachusetts Port Authority
  2. Virginia Road just west of the Lincoln North office park, on land owned by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
  3. Virginia Road just north of site #2, on land owned by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
  4. North Great Road between the transfer station and Mill Street, on land owned by the federal government
  5. Cambridge Turnpike, on land owned by Farrington Memorial

Narrowing down the choices will require “a much higher-level assessment of the preferred site or sites” including subsurface conditions as well as zoning and permitting costs, Alberti said.

Building or rebuilding the DPW facility regardless of location would cost about $15.2 million. That figure includes the cost of decommissioning and demolition of the current site plus temporary facilities during the construction period, but would not include land acquisition costs. The facility will also have to include at least one structure (the salt shed) that’s 30 to 40 feet high to accommodate the salt pile and trucks.

“This is a pretty shocking number to many people because they look at these facilities as the highway barn and the garage, but I like to tell everyone that this is an operational facility and it has to be designed to today’s building codes,” Alberti said. This includes equipment to pressure-wash sanders and trucks and then collect and store the runoff for later removal, as well as a stormwater system that’s more complex than those found on the average street.

Selectman James Craig asked if any of the other towns Weston and Sampson has worked with have broken out their DPW facilities into more than one site. Actually, Alberti said, about 95% of towns are consolidating their DPW into a single site for greater efficiency, though some towns store seasonal equipment off-site.

“Given our capital commitments, spending $15 million is down the road a ways,” noted SLPIC member Gary Taylor.

DPW Superintendent Chris Bibbo said afterwards that “whatever the study would recommend would be fine with us” and that it would be “acceptable” to wait several years for a renewed facility. “We have equipment storage that’s very, very tight, but we manage to keep all the equipment under the garage roof,” he said.

The DPW is currently doing some renovations to update its office space using money from its regular operating budget for materials and labor by DPW staff as time permits, Bibbo said.

Lincoln’s new Wang Field is open for play

Courtney Wang cuts the ribbon for Lincoln’s new athletic field next to the house he grew up in (click to enlarge).

Lincoln’s first new athletic field in more than 50 years officially opened last week with a ribbon-cutting by Courtney Wang, the son of the couple whose land the field now occupies.

Computer entrepreneur An Wang and his wife Lorraine raised their children on Bedford Road close to Route 2. After Lorraine passed away in 2016, the Rural Land Foundation and the Birches School together bought the Wang’s 16-acre property. The house was renovated and became the school’s new permanent home, and the other 12 acres is now Wang Field.

Attendees at the April 24 ribbon-cutting ceremony applauded the people and groups that made the project possible: Geoff McGean, executive director of the RLF; Dan Pereira, director of the Parks and Recreation Department, which will oversee use of the field (purchased from the RLF by the town in 2017); the Ogden Codman Trust, which provided a seed grant of $50,000; Patty Donahue, who was instrumental in raising funds for the field construction; and Courtney Wang, who flew in from Texas for the occasion.

Stone benches and bricks carry the names of Lincoln residents who made donations to fund the field construction.

Wang (cofounder of O-File and a trustee of the Wang Foundation) told the story of playing in a smaller area close to his house as a boy. The little field was not exactly ideal, being uneven and rocky, so he asked his parents for help in fixing it up — but the answer was no. “You guys can ride your bikes to the school fields—that’s what they’re there for,” he recalled them saying.

Now, seeing the beautiful new field in what was once his back yard, “the 10-year-old in me says ‘whoah, this is totally awesome—this is a dream come true!’ I hope you find it as special for you as it was for me growing up,” Wang said. He then “broke in” the field by kicking a soccer ball into one of the goals, and the ball was later signed by guests at the ribbon-cutting for him to take home as a souvenir.

Property sales in March

169 Lexington Rd. — David Spertner to Cao Yunfei and Wang Shuhui for $957,500 (March 29)

7 Tower Rd. — Andrew Thompson to Michael Fiore and Caroline Malcolm for $812,000 (March 28)

112 Codman Rd. — David Crisafi to Benjamin Pless for $1,381,900 (March 28)

216 Aspen Circle — Michelle Selinger-Schamberg to Nicholas H. Morgan for $615,000 (March 15)

11 Huntley Lane — Sheik Mehrdad Trust to Gilbert and Judith Roeder for $950,000 (March 8)

 

Study calls for new DPW facilities costing $15 million

The DPW site on Lewis Street (click to enlarge).

The completed study of the options for moving some or all of the DPW’s Lewis Street functions to allow rezoning of the property recommends that the town replace the outdated facility at an estimated cost of more than $15 million.

Weston and Sampson were hired in 2017 to identify the current and future needs of the Department of Public Works and to identify a potential site to address those needs. The study will be formally presented to the Board of Selectmen on Monday, April 22  at 6:30 p.m. The board will ultimately make a decision as to whether to recommend the DPW as a future project to the Capital Planning Committee.

Weston and Sampson’s report says the current facility, which was built 60 years and has not been expanded since; does not comply with building, plumbing or mechanical codes; does not have enough space for storage or maintenance; and poses safety concerns for DPW employees.

The public works facility needs almost 30,000 square feet (about two-thirds of an acre), including 17,000 square feet of indoor vehicle and equipment storage, according to the report. The Lewis St. property facility has almost four acres, but most of the space is open to the elements.

The consultants started by compiling a list of 182 potential properties for a DPW (including Lewis St.) and narrowed it town to six, excluding most based on size, current use, and wetlands/floodplain status. The six remaining sites were Lewis St., the transfer station (both town-owned); land on Old Bedford Road owned by MassPort; land on Virginia Road owned by MassPort and the U.S. government at Hanscom Field; and land on Cambridge Turnpike owned by Farrington Memorial. Lewis St. is by far the smallest of the finalists based on acreage.

The rough cost estimate includes $8.5 million for the main building, $2.5 million in site and site support structures, $3.5 million in soft costs, and $670,000 in contingency costs, but no escalation costs.

The South Lincoln Planning and Implementation and Planning Committee is working on rezoning the Lincoln Station area, including the DPW property and will host a public forum on their work on Tuesday, May 7 from 6-8 p.m.in the Town Hall (see accompanying story).

Rezoning South Lincoln is topic of May 7 forum

South Lincoln showing proposed SLPIC projects (click image to enlarge)

A proposal to rezone parts of South Lincoln will be the subject of a public forum hosted by the South Lincoln Planning and Implementation Committee (SLPIC) will hold a public forum on Tuesday, May 7 from 6–8:30 p.m. in the Town Hall.

SLPIC’s Village Planning and Zoning Team has been working on rezoning the area comprising the train station, Lewis Street including the DPW (see accompanying story), the mall, and Lincoln Road up to Codman Road as part of an effort to revitalize the area.

The agenda is as follows:

  • 6–7 p.m. — drop in and meet members of SLPIC and the town’s planning and land use staff to learn more about SLPIC efforts to create a vibrant, pedestrian friendly village center at Lincoln Station.
  • 7–8:30 p.m. — Presentation by the SLPIC Village Planning and Zoning Team on efforts to rezone Lincoln Station as an E-TOD (Equitable Transit Oriented Development). Learn more about the proposed zoning and design guidelines, followed by Q&A. 

An E-TOD is a type of sustainable smart growth development that maximizes the amount of residential, business, and public space within walking distance of public transport. A transit-oriented development encourages walkability and use of public transit to reduce dependency on cars while reducing the carbon footprint and contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. “Equitable” means that people of all ages, incomes, and abilities have access to housing, services, amenities ,and public transportation.

Benefits of a transit-oriented development include:

  • Reducing dependence on driving
  • Allowing residents to live, work, and play in the same area
  • Reducing the area’s carbon footprint or negative impact on the environment
  • Providing access to better life services
  • Stimulating the local economy
  • Revitalizing town centers
  • Providing better access between urban and suburban areas, to better jobs, and to better entertainment or recreational services

Property sales in February

219 Sandy Pond Rd. — Jason H. Chu to Eniana and Jacob Tabor for $1,017,000 (February 22)

22 Juniper Ridge Rd. (land only) — Peter F. Billings to Walter Scott for $20,000 (February 19)

 

Online trail walks and spring activities on offer from LLCT

Now that spring is more or less here, stir-crazy Lincolnites and visitors are turning their thoughts to walks in the woods — but where to begin? Try one of the 10 suggested walks on the Lincoln Land Conservation Trust’s redesigned website.

With the help of LLCT staff and volunteers, Lewis Trails created the suggested walks using the town’s GIS map and Google Maps. Users can click on a trail name to get a description of the trail and surrounding property plus parking directions. Then they can carry the map with them on their smartphone, zooming and scrolling as they walk. The one- to two-mile walks are loops so walkers can return to where they parked without retracing their steps.

“If you’re new to Lincoln or its trails, it’s a great resource. Then on the next visit, you can start to explore a little more,” said Bryn Gingrich, assistant to the executive director at the LLCT.

The website also includes a town-wide map of all of Lincoln’s trails as well as 10 subsections for downloading and printing. “We thought it would be nice to offer those two options and decide what works best for them,” Gingrich said. Large paper trail maps, a paperback trail guide, and other items are also available in the LLCT’s online shop.

Upcoming LLCT events

Stewardship work day
Saturday, April 13 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Lincoln School’s Smith parking lot)
The LLCT and the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) are partnering to provide trail maintenance on part of a Bay Circuit Trail connection in Lincoln, as well as to provide invasive plant removal at the People for Pollinators meadow site. Some of the work will include removing debris, filling holes, clearing the tread of the trail, and cutting back bittersweet and other invasive plants. For more information and to register, click here.

Turtle Time with the Turtle Rescue League
Saturday, April 27 at 4 p.m. (St. Anne’s Church)
Turtles are amazing reptiles that have been around for more than 200 million years, longer than crocodiles and snakes. Meet a snapping turtle, box turtle, painted turtle and more at this family-friendly program. Representatives from the Turtle Rescue League will share information on what to do when you find a turtle in your backyard or in the road. We will also learn what steps to take when faced with an injured turtle, baby turtle, or turtle nest that’s imperiled.

Spring Birding in Lincoln
Sundays, April 28, May 5, May 12, and May 19 at 7:30 a.m.
Click here for meeting locations and details.

History and Nature Walk
Saturday, May 4 at 3 p.m. (Food Project parking lot on Rt. 126)
Gwyn Loud, LLCT trustee, and Rob Todd will lead us on an exploration of the past and present landscape in Adams Woods, through the woods and fields that inspired Thoreau and past the railroad tracks that brought economic growth in the area. Along the way, we will also note the sights and sounds of nature that have reclaimed this space. An important site for agriculture, commerce, transportation, and the development of American philosophy, Adams Woods is now a haven for wildlife and is an integral part of Lincoln’s network of conservation land. Co-sponsored by LLCT and the Lincoln Historical Society.

Spring Mindfulness Walks with John Calabria
Tuesdays, April 2, May 7, and June 4 beginning at 1 p.m. (click here for meeting locations)
Sponsored with Lincoln’s Council on Aging, join walks where you can unplug, disconnect from the world for a while, and let your senses come alive in nature. Walk with naturalist John Calabria in some of Lincoln’s most beautiful places.

Meeting locations will be determined by trail conditions and posted to our website two weeks ahead of each walk. Walks are organized for those who are 55+, but all are welcome. Choose footwear and clothing appropriate for weather conditions. Walking sticks or walking poles can help for stability, if you have them. In case of inclement weather, call the LLCT at 781-259-9251 after 10 a.m. the morning of the walk for direction.

LLCT Annual Meeting
Tuesday, May 14 at 7 p.m. (St. Anne’s Church)
The annual meeting will feature a keynote address by Matt Burne, Conservation Director at the Walden Woods Project and Vice President of the Vernal Pool Association. Burne will bring the captivating and ephemeral nature of vernal pools into focus as he explores their biological diversity and ecology. Learn about spotted salamanders, wood frogs, fairy shrimp, and other wildlife species that rely on these amazing ponds.

A reception, including light refreshments and drinks, begins at 7 p.m.; the LLCT business meeting begins at 7:30 p.m., and the keynote address will follow. All are welcome.

Town Meeting 2019 roundup

Here are some of the measures approved by residents at the March 23 Annual Town Meeting. See previous stories for coverage of the votes on the leaf blower bylaw and the deCordova/Trustees of Reservations integration.

Town budget

Voters approved a FY 2020 budget of $41.55 million, a 10.3% increase from this year’s budget of $37.68 million. The total includes $4.29 million in debt service for the school building project and a 2.39% increase in the operating budget. Property taxes on the median-value house (assessed value of $998,400) will increase by about $1,781 or 12.7%. See pages 4 and 6 of the Annual Town Meeting Financial Section and Warrant for pie charts showing revenues and expenditures by category.

Capital and community preservation items

Voters approved the requests from the Capital Planning Committee and Community Preservation Committee (see the Lincoln Squirrel, March 14, 2019). Also approved in a separate vote was an appropriation of up to $400,000 for an irrigation systems for the Codman athletic field next to the pool. This will be the second irrigated field in town; the first is the new Wang field on Bedford Road set to open this spring (the town’s first new athletic field in 60 years).

The largest capital item was $600,000 for a new roof for the Hartwell school building. The roof was installed 31 years ago but was designed to last for only 20, and the Finance Committee recommended doing it this year “because we could fit in in budget and we are worried about long list of capital projects on the docket in coming years,” FinCom chair Jim Hutchinson said.

Recognitions

This year’s Bright Light Award went to Gary Davis, who was recognized for outstanding volunteerism. Davis, a retired architect, headed a project to digitize and create a searchable index of Planning and Department of Public Works documents, as well as updating the Planning Department filing system.

Tim Higgins was recognized for his 25 years of service as Town Administrator. His citation noted his “integrity, accessibility to the community, creative problem solving. tireless diplomacy, eternal optimism, endless patience and thoughtful leadership.”

“There are very few dull moments in Lincoln; we seem to move from one interesting and challenging project to another,” Higgins said in accepting the award, which included his very own parking spot at Town Hall. “If you’re a public policy nerd like I am and a history-oriented person, you can’t imagine a better place to spend your career.”

Departing Water Commission chair Packy Lawler and School Committee chair Tim Christenfeld were also thanked for their service.

Solar bylaw

Residents approved changes to new definitions for roof-mounted solar systems, energy storage systems and carport/canopy PV systems; financial and ownership arrangements to allow power purchase agreements; increased height limits for canopy-carport solar arrays; and adding a general waiver section. See section starting on page 11 of the list of motions (Article 28) for details.

State flag and seal

Residents voted to support creation of a state commission to study the idea of changing the Massachusetts state flag and seal, which some believe depicts oppression of Native Americans by English settlers.

“I would put to you that this is your version of the Confederate flag,” said Patricia Thornton Wells, who grew up in Georgia. “It has symbolism that means certain things to certain people that is very offensive. Most people in my town growing up didn’t take offense, but every African American does. I think this needs to be reconsidered from the context of all the people in our community.”

Noting that the motto on the flag and seal reads in part, “By this sword we seek peace,” resident Peter Pease said, “If that is not an aggressive statement… It seems so wrong to put people who owned this land before we came and have them on a flag… with a sword over their head. Please, let’s get this out of here.”

About a dozen residents voted nay, including Michael Coppock. He referred to the Native American on the flag, partly modeled on Metacomet, who led a rebellion known as King Philip’s War. “It was most deadly war in U.S. history as a percentage of population loss… he abandoned his father (Massasoit’s) of peace,” he said.

Other measures approved

  • Authorization to bond $1.1 million for the Water Department
  • Bylaw changes:
    • Adding an exception for nonconforming lots that were reduced in size by an eminent-domain taking
    • Adding two new properties to the Brown’s Wood Historic District
    • Clarifying the definition of “demolition” under the demolition bylaw
  • A ban on sales of e-cigarettes (a preemptive measure since no stores on Lincoln currently sell them). A handful of residents voted no.