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

land use

Initial design concepts for school to be presented

Architects will unveil some initial design concepts for the Lincoln School and ask for feedback at Saturday’s State of the Town meeting, which starts at 9 a.m. in the Brooks auditorium.

The first 90 minutes of the meeting will be devoted to updates from the two campus project groups—the School Building Committee and the Community Center Preliminary Planning and Design Committee (CCPPDC). School architect SMMA will introduce a range of initial concepts that explore building size, shape, and location of the school, while CCPPDC architect Maryann Thompson will present a series of photographs to start a conversation about aesthetic preferences. The Finance Committee will also provide high-level financial context for the projects.

Residents will be asked to weigh in on the Lincoln School design concepts and to provide input about design elements they think reflect Lincoln values and are appropriate for the campus. The SBC will post directions for the feedback exercises and, if possible, images of those design concepts later this week. 

Also on the SOTT agenda are updates on Lincoln Station improvements and proposals for a plastic bag/water bottle ban, recreational marijuana rules, a gas leak repair resolution, the Lincoln Historic District, and Lincoln becoming a sanctuary town.

Public hearings coming up

Zoning Board of Appeals

The Zoning Board of the Appeals will hold a public hearing on Thursday, Nov. 2 at 7:30 p.m. to hear and to act on the following petitions:

  • Jonathan Donaldson, 7 Old Lexington Rd., for a special permit for an accessory apartment.
  • Walter Scott, 0 Juniper Ridge, for a special permit to construct a single-family house.
  • Patricia Horwitz, 68 Conant Rd., for renewal of a special permit for an accessory apartment.
  • Kathy Moritz, Trustee 135 Lexington Rd. Realty Trust, 135 Lexington Rd., for renewal of a special permit for an accessory apartment.

Planning Board

The Lincoln Planning Board will hold a public hearing at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 14 to review an application for Site Plan Review. The applicants, Anne Finucane and M. Barnicle, 20 Trapelo Rd., propose to add an accessory structure.

A full list of legal notices for Lincoln can be found here.

Updates on multitude of issues planned for State of the Town

An agenda chock-full of information and discussion about issues affecting Lincoln’s future will greet residents at the State of the Town meeting on Saturday, Nov. 4 from 9 a.m.–12:30 p.m. in the Lincoln School auditorium. The event offers informational updates on important issues in town and (in some cases) a preview of measures that will come up for votes at the Annual Town Meeting in spring 2018.

The first 90 minutes will consist of presentations the two proposed campus building projects: the Lincoln School building project and the Community Center project. Recent Lincoln Squirrel articles on these topics include:

Other agenda items are below, and are also discussed in the latest Selectmen’s Newsletter. There will then be an open forum from 11:40 a.m.–noon and an opportunity to talk to representatives of the groups who presented during the meeting at information/discussion tables from 12:30–1 p.m.

Lincoln Station

The South Lincoln Implementation Planning Committee is studying improvements to the Lincoln Station area as well as possible rezoning, though a proposed zoning bylaw change is not likely by spring. There are five teams working on different topics for SLPIC, which reports to the Planning Board.

Plastic bags and bottles

The Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School Environmental Club is revisiting its push to regulate the sale of disposable plastic grocery bags and single-use plastic water bottles in Lincoln. Warrant articles were tabled in Town Meeting in 2017 but passed in Sudbury. Town Meeting will feature either warrant articles or a general bylaw change proposal.

Recreational marijuana

The Board of Selectmen is forming a committee to help the town understand the 2016 statewide measure that legalized the cultivation, personal use and retail sale of recreational marijuana. The group will assess the law’s implications for Lincoln and make recommendations regarding potential policies, bylaws and regulations that may be desired and/or required to protect the town’s interests. Town Administrator Timothy Higgins said this week that a bylaw proposal may come up at a Special Town Meeting later in 2018 rather than the annual spring meeting.

To learn more about the committee, contact Higgins at 781-259-2604 or higginst@lincolntown.org. To apply, submit a letter of interest to Administrative Assistant Peggy Elder at elderp@lincolntown.org.

At Town Meeting in 2017, residents approved a moratorium on allowing use of land or structures for recreational marijuana establishments until November 30, 2018 pending new regulations from the Cannabis Control Commission and possible zoning amendments in Lincoln.

Historic District

The Historic District Commission and Friends of Modern Architecture are working with property owners interested in adding their Modern houses to the Lincoln Historic District. At Town Meeting, residents will vote on a proposal that would allow at least 17 owners of Modern homes to voluntarily join the Lincoln Historic District. The district currently consists of 73 properties in four different areas.

Sanctuary Town

A planned Town Meeting measure seeks to make Lincoln an official Sanctuary Town, which organizers hope will safeguard illegal immigrants in Lincoln from federal immigration enforcement and otherwise help immigrants feel protected

Mothers Out Front

This group has been working on local responses to climate change such as curbing greenhouse gas emissions by fixing gas leaks from underground pipes. Members are expected to propose a resolution at Town Meeting calling for the repair of utilities’ leaking gas pipes.

Property sales in September

  • 5 Deerhaven Rd. — Theresa Meehan to Roger and Rebecca Yeh for $860,000 (September 1)
  • 19 Brooks Rd. — Sarah Smith Cairns to Brian and Kimberly Jalet for $850,000 (September 22)
  • 142 Bedford Rd. — Hui Pires to Paul and Reanna Wu for $618,999 (September 18)
  • 12 Old Cambridge Turnpike — Amanda Fargo to Leon Calitri for $575,000 (September 1)
  • 169 Lexington Rd. — Yolanda Cellucci Trust et al to Lincoln Master Build 1 LLC for $350,000 (September 13)
  • 0 Fridolin Hill Rd. (three parcels) — Donald W. Barron and Charles Anton to Yesim Taskor and Halil Ali Pirnar for $1,400,000 (September 29)

Community center group selects architect

The Community Center Preliminary Planning and Design Committee (CCPPDC) has selected the firm of Maryann Thompson Architects to help design a proposal for a community center for Lincoln.

Massachusetts work by the Cambridge-based firm includes designs for the Atrium School in Watertown, the Broad Institute in Cambridge, the Walden Pond visitors’ center, and Temple Ahavat Achim in Gloucester. The firm is already working closely with SMMA Architects, which was hired to design the Lincoln School project.

The CCPPDC and the School Building Committee will present updates at the State of the Town meeting on November 4. By that time, “we want the two architectural firms to have spoken quite a bit and start aligning their processes and procedures, and maybe put a couple of community forums on the calendar,” said CCPPDC Vice Chair Margit Griffith.

Maryann Thompson Architects should have a proposed basic design for a community center along with firm cost estimates ready before an anticipated Special Town Meeting in June, when residents will be asked to vote on a school design, Griffith said. If and when residents decide to pursue the community center project, the town will ask for bids from firms to do the detailed design. “They’re not producing a plan for a community center that people vote on [in June] and break ground on,” she said.

The CCPPDC is drafting a timeline in conjunction with the SBC with “key choice points for decisions and deliverables by the architect,” said committee Chair Ellen Meyer Shorb. Designing a school and a community center simultaneously is “a really difficult, complex process that no one has done before, but the bottom line is to include the town early and often.”

 

 

 

Interactive website brings residents into South Lincoln planning

A screen shot of the South Lincoln revitalization website at courb.co/lincoln.

Using a new interactive website, residents can look at a map of South Lincoln, see some of the improvements being discussed, and add their own comments and suggestions.

The project page at courb.co/lincoln was created for the Lincoln Planning Board and the South Lincoln Planning Implementation Committee (SLPIC), which are working to make the area around Lincoln Station a vibrant, walkable and sustainable village center. Officials can post updates and respond to comments by residents as part of the public process, which also includes in-person workshops and events.

The project team behind the website can drop a “pin” on certain areas of the map to invite discussion. For example, when users click on one of pins, it opens a text box saying “If this underutilized green space next to Donelan’s and Lincoln Woods was revitalized, what events would you like to see held here?” Residents can then post and read each other’s responses, much like the comments section at the bottom of a blog post, or add their own pins to start discussion on another specific area of South Lincoln. Participants receive a notification when the project team replies.

The town was recently awarded a $400,000 Complete Streets grant for 10 projects in town, some of which include including signs, roadway markings, crosswalks, bike racks, and informational kiosks in South Lincoln. One of the website pins asks residents where they wold like to see these kiosks located.

The web platform was created by coUrbanize, a startup founded by urban planners from MIT with the goal of supplementing the traditional community process that planners use by connecting people online. “Traditional planning workshops are important, but they can be a challenge for many people to attend,” said coUrbanize co-founder Karin Brandt. “By using technology to reach people and lowering the bar to participation, we can ensure that more voices are heard.”

Roadside pasture getting ready for return of the cows

New fenceposts await installation in the pasture running along Route 117. (Photo by Alice Waugh)

The narrow pasture between Drumlin Farm and the railroad tracks along Route 117 is being cleared and fenced in preparation for the return of a quintessentially Lincoln sight: cattle grazing in roadside fields.

The area was historically known as the “night pasture” because it was where the cows were turned out to graze in the evenings, but then the fence deteriorated to the point where it couldn’t safely contain the cows. With no livestock, invasive plant species took over the field, said Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary Manager Renata Pomponi.

Drumlin Farm is replacing the fence as part of a grant from the National Resource Conservation Service (part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture) to promote rotational grazing and invasives removal. The sanctuary has also invested in the clearing and fencing work as part of its ecological management plan, Pomponi said.

“Our staff have been working on that field for two years in preparation — a combination of physical removal (hard work!) and some limited chemical spraying to get rid of the black swallow wort. Our goal is to return cows to that field as soon as we can,” she said.

“The prospect of cleaning up that edge and having cows be the first thing people see in the early mornings and evenings as they drive into Lincoln over the railroad tracks has always been so appealing to me. We’re excited about restoring it to farmland use,” Pomponi said.

Lincoln property sales in August 2017

  • 18 Oak Meadow Rd. — Ann Helmus to Amrite Aniruddha and Prajakta Badri for $1,000,000 (August 1)
  • 213 Sandy Pond Rd. — Shawn Samuel to Todd and Sara Morneau for $1,250,000 (August 4)
  • 170 South Great Rd. — LV Realty LLC to 179 South Great Road LLC for $750,000 (August 9)
  • 190 Lincoln Rd. — UMB Bank NA, trustee to Lorraine and Theresa Hanley, trustees, for  $1,475,000 (August 11)
  • 14C North Commons — Kara Swanson to Alexander Pina and Lu Zhang for $379,9000 (August 18)
  • 34 Windingwood Lane — Robert Sutherland to Wayne and Elizabeth Ogden for  $651,000 (August 18)
  • 41 Todd Pond Road — Page Wasson to Susan Peacock for $419,000 (August 25)
  • 120 Lexington Rd. — Lexington Development Limited Partnership to Christopher and Susan Silber for $1,700,000 (August 31)

News acorns

Public hearings coming up

  • The Lincoln Planning Board will hold a public hearing at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 10 to review an application for a sign permit. The applicant, Sujit Sitole, proposes to construct a directory sign at 152 Lincoln Rd.
  • The Lincoln Historical Commission will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, Oct. 10 at 7:30 p.m. to consider the application of Ventianni, LLC to demolish two garden sheds at 144 Sandy Pond Rd.

DeCordova hosts after-school program, nursery school open house

The deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum is offering a new Art + Nature After School
drop-off program on five Thursdays for kids ages 7–11 from 3:30–5 p.m. starting on October 12 and running through November 9. Join artist and nature educator Ann Wynne this fall as we are inspired by five artists’ processes and visions. We will play, move, build, and see like outdoor sculptors. Click here to see the deCordova’s calendar of fall family programs.

The Lincoln Nursery School (LNS) in deCordova’s grounds will hold an open house on Saturday, Oct. 14 from 9–11 a.m. Tour the studios and play areas on deCordova’s campus and meet LNS faculty. For families with children ages 2.9 to kindergarten.

Open Studio library exhibit reception

There will be an artists’ reception at the Lincoln Public Library on Tuesday, Oct. 12 from 4:30–7 p.m. as part of the Lincoln Open Studio exhibit being shown in library’s main gallery until October 28. Offered through the Lincoln Parks and Recreation Department, Open Studio meets weekly for a five-hour block. The group welcomes newcomers of all skill levels and media (except turpentine-based oils). We meet during the school year on Thursdays from 9:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m. in Hartwell B-10. For more information, call Lincoln Parks and Recreation at 781-259-0784), or email Sarah Chester (schester636@gmail.com) or Joan Seville (joanseville1@gmail.com), and stop by at noon on Thursdays to say hello.

Apply for Lincoln Cultural Council grants

The Lincoln Cultural Council (LCC) invites applications for its 2017-18 grant cycle. Proposals for community-oriented arts, humanities, and science programs are due by Monday, Oct. 16. These grants support artistic projects and activities in Lincoln including exhibits, festivals, field trips, short-term artist residencies, performances in schools, workshops, and lectures. The Lincoln Cultural Council is especially interested in receiving grants to support performances and programs about local history and environmental issues.

The LCC is part of a network of 329 Local Cultural Councils serving 351 cities and towns in the Commonwealth. The state legislature provides an annual appropriation to the Massachusetts Cultural Council, which then allocates funds to each community. This year, the Lincoln Cultural Council will distribute about $4,400 in grants. Application forms and more information are available at www.mass-culture.org. For local guidelines and complete information on the LCC, contact council Chair Julie Dobrow at jdobrow111@gmail.com.

Board approves study of DPW site

The 2014 study by the Planning Board identified four quadrants in South Lincoln as defined by the railroad tracks and Lincoln Road: (1) Codman Farm, (2) the mall, (3) Ridge Road, and (4) Lewis Street. Parcels in red are town-owned land.

The Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to authorize a study of the Department of Public Works site on Lewis Street that would look at options for repurposing the site as part of a potential South Lincoln rezoning effort.

Before the vote, several residents spoke against the study, fearing that the DPW will eventually be relocated to the transfer station site off Route 2A in North Lincoln.

Objections to the proposal by the South Lincoln Planning and Implementation Committee (SLPIC) first arose publicly over the summer. Residents expressed concern about the cost or cleaning up the DPW site, which is used for trucks, road equipment and school buses, as well as the environmental sensitivity of the transfer station site.

Gary Taylor, a member of SLPIC and the Planning Board, asked selectmen to authorize $9,800 to hire civil engineering firm Weston & Sampson to assess the DPW’s functions and needs as well as potential site consolidation (e.g., leaving the DPW on Lewis Street but shrinking its footprint to repurpose some of the land), opportunities for relocating some or all of its functions to another location, and the potential for combining resources for some DPW functions with neighboring towns or MassPort.

Lincoln’s 2010 master plan reiterates a 1999 recommendation to consider redeveloping the DPW site to support housing and commerce, and to “see if it makes sense to include the DPW site in efforts to rezone, revitalize and redevelop in South Lincoln,” Taylor said. The 2014 South Lincoln study also “identified an opportunity to create additional transportation-oriented housing by redeveloping the existing light industrial properties and relocating DPW garage,” he added.

“I think this is a very necessary due diligence as part of any thoughtful planning. I think you have to take a look at this four-acre parcel and see what all the options are,” said Selectman James Craig.

Oakdale Lane resident Keith Hylton repeated the concerns he voiced to the board in July about possible well water contamination from vehicles at the transfer station site and its proximity to the Minute Man National Historical Park (MMNHP). Weston recently built a new DPW faculty that cost $15 million, he said.

“Whatever site you look at, there’s got to be procedures for meaningful involvement by stakeholders early on,” Hylton added.

Some residents wondered why the amount requested was just under the $10,000 threshold that requires the town to solicit competitive bids. Meanwhile, others including MMNHP Resources Program Manager Margie Coffin Brown speculated that $9,800 might not be enough to do a thorough study of the DPW and alternative sites.

The study “really is all about whether or not the land could be put to better use and whether or not it’s feasible to relocate it or consolidate,” Taylor said. Any future rezoning proposal would come only after “a lot of further study” on costs and impacts, and would not occur for at least five to seven years, since the town faces major school and community center projects in the near future, he added.