land use

A fiscal analysis performed for the developer of the proposed Oriole Landing project says the housing will result in a net boost to town revenue of at least $75,000 per year.

The report for Civico Development done by Fougere Planning & Development, Inc., looked at increased revenue from property and excise taxes as well as costs from added school-age children and emergency services. The Milford, N.H. company is also doing a fiscal impact analysis for the proposed 180-unit LCB Senior Living development in Lexington.

With an estimated value of $16 million, Oriole Landing would be expected to generate first-year tax payments of $217,870 based on Lincoln’s current property tax rate of $12.60 per $1,000 valuation, the report says. Another $32,813 in revenue would come from automobile excise taxes and $6,536 in the 3 percent property tax surcharge that funds the Community Preservation Act. The added estimated revenue totals $257,219.

Fourgere analyzed three years of emergency call data from 1,582 apartment housing units to project annual increases of 29 calls a year and 14 more calls for fire and ambulance services. Based on Lincoln’s Public Safety Department call records and budgets, the town would pay an additional $18,641 for Oriole Landing services. There will be no added road maintenance costs because the development’s road maintenance and garbage removal will be paid for by the apartment complex operator.

The report analyzed the school impact of the 30 proposed two-bedroom units, disregarding the 30 one-bedroom units since those tenants would presumably not have children living with them. Using the Lincoln Woods units (minus its three-bedroom units) for comparison, Fourgere projects that 9–16 school-age children may live at Oriole Landing, with 70-80 percent of them in grades K-8.

Based on Lincoln’s class size policies, this will result in less than a single additional class, meaning an extra teacher costing about $100,000 probably would not have to be hired. However, the firm included a figure of $60,000–$100,000 “to account for some school-related costs… to cover potential teacher salaries.” K-8 school enrollment is down 12.5 percent since 2011-12, according to school data cited in the report, so “given the declining enrollment trend, the need for additional staff is unlikely.”

When everything is added up, the net fiscal impact will be an estimated $75,437–$115,437 in additional revenue for the town.

The Planning Board will hold a public hearing on Civico’s preliminary site plan on Tuesday, March 6 at 7 p.m. in town hall. Residents will also be asked to amend zoning bylaws to establish a North Lincoln Planning Development District and approve the prelininary site plan at Town Meeting on March 24.

On Thursday, Feb. 22, Civico Development will host a presentation and Q&A for the Council on Aging at 2:30 p.m. in Bemis Hall and an open house in the Lincoln Public Library from 6:30–8:30 p.m. There will with additional open houses on March 8, 15, and 22 and another COA session on March 16. A full list of meetings can be found here.

The Planning Board’s public hearing on Oriole Landing, a proposal for 60 units of mixed-income housing on Mary’s Way, is scheduled for Tuesday, March 6 at 7 p.m.—just 18 days before residents will be asked to vote on the matter at Town Meeting.

The proposal calls for 60 one- and two-bedroom units on six acres of land adjacent to The Commons. Fifteen of the 60 units would be deed-restricted as affordable according to state guidelines. At the March 24 Town Meeting, voters will be asked to approve a bylaw amendment to establish a North Lincoln Planning Development Overlay District as well as a Preliminary Development and Land Use Plan for the project (click here to view the draft warrant article). Five projects have been approved under this process in Lincoln: Battle Road Farms and the Lincoln North office building (1986), Minuteman Inn (approved in 1989 but never completed), and Minuteman Commons and The Groves/Lincoln Deaconess, now The Commons (2006).

The Planning Board has created a detailed FAQ document about the project, and the Housing Commission also has a website with an overview and background on affordable housing in Lincoln. Plans and other documents relating to the March 6 public hearing are available here. A list of upcoming public forums and official meetings can be found here.

If approved next month by a two-thirds vote, Civico Development must return within two years to the Planning Board for site plan special permit approval through another public hearing process. Civico must also go before the Historical Commission if they plan to demolish an existing structure on the property that may be deemed historically or architecturally significant. The company is working with the commission to develop a plan that will “honor a historic house located on the property,” according to the FAQ document.

Other information from the document:

• The development would have the second-highest density of housing units per acre in town (10.5), lower than The Commons (11.95) and greater than Minuteman Commons or Lincoln Woods (8.72 and 6.28 units per acre, respectively).
• Nine to 16 school-age children spread over various grades would be expected to live in Oriole Landing. Since there will be only one- and two-bedroom units, Civico believes the number will be on the lower side.
• A traffic study indicates that there will be no significant delays at any of the nearby intersections due to added traffic from the development. It is also “not anticipated to have a significant impact” on the Deerhaven Road/Garland Road community. The town is having the traffic study reviewed by a third-party consultant.
• Estimated rents will run from $1,564–$1,759 per month for the designated affordable units, or $2,200–$2,900 for the market-rate units.
• The state is expected to allow up to 70 percent of the affordable units (10 of the 15) to be rented to households qualified as “local preference”—tenants who are already Lincoln residents, employees of the town or of Lincoln businesses, or families with children enrolled in the Lincoln Public Schools.
• The Lincoln Housing Coalition projects that the town will need to add 10 units of affordable housing per decade just to keep pace with development trends and maintain Lincoln’s Subsidized Housing Inventory (SHI) at a minimum of 10 percent. If the SHI falls below this state-mandated threshold in the 2020 census, developers can bypass local zoning restrictions to build so-called 40B projects. Lincoln needs approximately 10 units of affordable housing to meet requirements for 2020.
• Future expansion is unlikely because the developer is keeping the bedroom count under 90 bedrooms in order to use a septic system. Bedroom counts over 90 require construction of a package treatment plant costing approximately $1 million.

To the editor:

It doesn’t seem so long ago, but it has been three years since I declared my candidacy for the Planning Board, and I’m asking you to elect me once again for a three-year term.

In my initial letter, I summarized my previous service to Lincoln on the Finance Committee, the Housing Commission/Housing Trust and as a Selectman. Now I would point to how the Planning Board has improved since you first elected me, and commit to you that, if elected, I would continue to work to give Lincoln the forward looking planning effort that it needs and deserves.

When I asked for your support previously, I identified two objectives that I would pursue. First, the board should spend much more time actually planning and much less time in the process of negotiating with people about what they could and couldn’t do with their residential properties. The second objective, related to the first, was to make the process of residents seeking reasonable improvements to their property much simpler and less costly. We have made substantial progress on both fronts.

The process through which residents seek to develop or improve their properties has become much simpler, more efficient, and far less costly. The board now delegates to its talented staff, Jennifer Burney and Paula Vaughn-Mackenzie, the task of resolving conflicts between applicants’ plans and Lincoln’s bylaws and board policies. Most issues are addressed at the staff level, so public hearings required for approval are focused narrowly upon any conflicts that remain and any concerns raised by abutters and interested parties.

Unlike in the past, it is rare that we continue a public hearing (forcing applicants and their architects to return) except in cases of substantial public interest, such as development of the new Minuteman High School facilities, or very large and impactful residences. The board protects the town’s interests but makes the process as user-friendly as possible. Furthermore, the board is considering changes to the bylaws governing site plan review to make them much more equitable.

By making its permitting function more efficient, the board and planning staff have been able to turn their attention to the planning that Lincoln needs. In addition to following and supporting the school building and community center development committees, the board has begun efforts to revitalize the Lincoln Station/mall area and to improve wayfinding and connectivity in Lincoln. The Lincoln Station effort includes working with the MBTA to improve commuter rail facilities, alterations to zoning to improve incentives for private commercial and residential development, and creation of “spaces” to make the mall area more attractive.

Wayfinding and connectivity initiatives seek to better inform people of what Lincoln has to offer and where to find it, and to develop facilities such as walkways, crosswalks, and trails to increase foot and bicycle access to key locations and improve safety. Our staff has brought in over $600,000 in grants to support these efforts, and we are actively pursuing additional grant funding.

I ask your support in the upcoming election to further pursue these efforts.

Sincerely.

Gary Taylor
2 Beaver Pond Rd.

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Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Letters will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.

If residents vote yes at Town Meeting in March, a proposed 60-unit mixed-income housing development would help meet Lincoln’s state-mandated affordable housing requirement for decades.

Civico Development is proposing to build 60 one- and two-bedroom units in two adjacent buildings on Mary’s Way abutting The Commons. Fifteen of the units in Oriole Landing will be deed-restricted as affordable; for prospective tenants to qualify, their household income may be no more than 80 percent of the area median income adjusted for family size. Seventy percent of the 15 affordable units will be set aside for town employees and others who work in Lincoln, current Lincoln residents, and those with children in the Lincoln Public Schools.

Civico is holding a series of open houses (see below) in advance of the March 25 Town Meeting, which will include two measures relating to the project. Voters will be asked to approve a zoning change to establish a North Lincoln Planning Development Overlay District and to approve a preliminary development and land use plan for the project. If it gets those approvals, Civico will later have to undergo a site plan review with details on traffic and environmental impacts and obtain a special permit from the Planning Board, Director of Planning and Land Use Jennifer Burney said.

Company representatives have been meeting since October with town officials including the Housing Options Working Group (HOW), the Planning Board, and the Affordable Housing Trust. The Planning Board has scheduled a February 13 public hearing on the preliminary plan. At its December 12 meeting, the board noted that “the timeline may be aggressive for March Town Meeting” but that Civico could always defer until the special town meeting scheduled for June.

On the affordable housing cusp

The fate of the project is important because if the town doesn’t create more affordable housing by the next census in 2020, it’s in danger of falling below the state-mandated minimum. In towns where affordable housing comprises less than 10 percent of the housing stock, developers are allowed to bypass a number of local zoning restrictions when proposing 40B housing projects (named after the relevant chapter of state law).

In 2017, the Housing Commission estimated that Lincoln’s subsidized housing inventory would fall from 10.9 percent to 9.75 by 2020. As of November 2016, 11.17 percent of the town’s housing units were classified as affordable, Burney said.

When at least 25 percent of a given development’s units are affordable, the state allows all of the units to be counted in the town’s subsidized housing inventory. If Oriole Landing is approved, the additional 60 units will put the town “well above” the 10 percent benchmark, she noted.

“We need more multifamily housing in Lincoln. There are so many seniors who want to downsize, and a lot of young professionals can’t afford houses” in town, said HOW member and former Housing Commission chair Pamela Gallup.

In an effort to create more affordable units in town while avoiding a large single development, residents approved the Affordable Accessory Apartment Program in 2017. That program provides incentives for homeowners to offer affordable rental units attached to their single-family homes. However, the program is still awaiting legislative approval for the tax-exemption portion, Gallup said.

$1 million grant

The Affordable Housing Coalition is supporting the project with a $1 million grant with funds from Community Preservation Act appropriations, Phase 2 of The Commons, and a bequest from the late Florence Hollingsworth, whose will required that some of the proceeds from the sale of her Twin Pond Lane home be used for affordable housing in town, she said.

The six-acre parcel on Mary’s Way was formerly Oriole Farm, a working farm owned for decades by the Morrissey family. The property includes a house (part of which was built in 1865 and is on the Historic Register) plus several smaller buildings. Civico will go before the Historic District Commission tonight (January 16) to discuss demolition or other measures.

When the Morrissey property went on the market in 2016, several 40B developers inquired about the site in hopes of building anywhere from 125 to 250 housing units, “but we were able to say no to them” because the town was above the 10 percent affordable-housing threshold, Gallup said. Oriole Landing “is small in comparison with that a 40B developer would put there,” she added.

Civico’s plan has itself gotten smaller. The company initially proposed 72 units on four floors but scaled it back to 60 units on three floors (with a 40-foot height maximum) in two separate buildings after getting feedback from town officials. The current proposal also calls for underground parking for each unit with additional parking along the perimeter; a community building with a fitness center, office space and meeting area; and a community garden and public outdoor gathering space.

Public meetings

The Housing Coalition and Civico will hold an informational meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 31 at 7 p.m. in the town office building. The developer has also created a web page to solicit feedback and will hold open houses in the Lincoln Public Library where residents can drop and learn more about Oriole Landing on the following Thursdays:

• January 25 from 2–4 p.m.
• February 8 from 6:30–8:30 p.m.
• February 15 from 1–3 p.m.
• February 22 from 6:30–8:30 p.m.

“As developers, we want to work in communities that are creative and open to providing a diversity of housing types, and the town of Lincoln has a history of being resourceful in this aspect,” architect and Civico head Andrew Consigli said in an email to the Lincoln Squirrel.

If all goes as planned, construction could start as soon as fall 2018 and would take about 14–16 months, with occupancy beginning in the spring of 2020, Consigli said.