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

land use

Public hearings coming up

The Lincoln Planning Board will hold a public hearing at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 11 to review an application for a Special Permit for a wireless communication facility. The applicant, Crown Castle, proposes to construct a 75-foot replacement tower and co-applicant Verizon Wireless proposes to install six antennas in three arrays at the centerline height of 75 feet along with necessary ground-based equipment. This hearing was rescheduled from last month due to inclement weather.

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

  • Brian Cummings, 188 Concord Rd., for renewal of an accessory apartment special permit.
  • Daniel England, 22 Weston Rd., for renewal of an accessory apartment special permit.
  • Lisette Cooper, 5 Longmeadow Road, for a special permit to finish attic into a study and add a hot tub to backyard.
  • Paul Chapman, 30 Old Sudbury Rd., for an amendment to a previously granted special permit for interior renovations to a carriage house for an accessory apartment.
  • Holly Hedlund, 21 Sunnyside Lane, for an appeal of the issuance of a building permit by the building inspector for work to be done in conformance with previously granted special permit.

Open Space and Recreation Plan completed

Lincoln’s recently completed 2017 Open Space and Recreation Plan (OSRP) identifies new and ongoing priorities for conservation measures, agriculture, recreation, and potential land acquisitions.

The OSRP Advisory Committee explored ways that key landholders can work together to prioritize shared uses for existing municipal, private, and institutional land. Land across town was prioritized based on a set of criteria for suitability for one or more of these uses. The result of this process is the open space and recreation action plan and accompanying map, which are intended to guide decisions about future land acquisitions and conservation partnerships.

Among the report’s goals for the Conservation Department and Lincoln Land Conservation Trust are to continue and in some cases expand the following efforts:

  • Developing the Baseline Inventory and Monitoring Program for new and existing conservation properties. This includes acquiring legal records validating each property’s conservation status, gathering documentation such as photographs and biological inventories, and establishing a monitoring program for all deeded and CR (conservation restriction) properties.
  • Controlling non-native, invasive species.
  • Engaging in education and outreach efforts within municipal government, local and regional organizations, schools, and the general public.
  • Identifying and protecting critical parcels or corridors that play a key role in fulfilling the goals of the OSRP.
  • Promoting co-sustainable agricultural practices, such as community-supported agriculture and regional land/farmer matching programs, the Pollinator Meadow on the Lincoln School campus, mobile chicken farming at Codman Community Farms, and sustainable crops and livestock farming at Drumlin Farm.
  • Considering licensing some fields that currently lie fallow in the interest in promoting local, sustainable farms and increasing the diversity of farming operations in Lincoln.

One of the top priorities identified during the 10-month planning process is to improve the town’s athletic fields, which are in poor shape due to heavy use and lack of irrigation. Voters at Town Meeting last week approved construction of a new field on the Wang property, but this will reduce usage of the existing fields only moderately. Capital improvements such as increasing access to wells and irrigation should be considered and the upcoming school project should also examine possibilities for adding another additional field, the report says.

Other future recreation facilities that would require more land are a skate park, neighborhood parks, basketball court, and municipal track, the report notes. The newly acquired Wang property doesn’t have the right size or configuration to include a track around the future athletic field.

Specific segments of the OSRP and related documents can be found here:

Roundup of further Town Meeting results

Editor’s note: see these previous Lincoln Squirrel articles for previous Town Meeting coverage:

Voters at Town Meeting approved measures aimed at increasing affordable accessory apartments, allowing the Board of Selectmen to change speed limits under certain conditions, temporarily banning marijuana establishments, and allowing commercial farming on smaller properties—but proposed regulations banning some sales of plastic water bottles and plastic grocery bags were tabled.

Affordable accessory apartments

Approved revisions to the accessory apartment bylaw will now allow affordable accessory apartments to be counted in the town’s Subsidized Housing Inventory (SHI). A second vote (pending legislative approval) authorized a property tax exemption for the portion of a home being rented out as an affordable accessory apartment.

The changes bring the town’s bylaw into line with the state Department of Housing and Community Development’s requirements on pricing, tenant income eligibility, affirmative fair housing marketing and tenant selection plan, and maintenance. Other requirements for qualifying as an affordable accessory apartment include a temporary deed restriction and a prohibition on renting to family members.

Currently, 10.9 percent of Lincoln’s housing units qualify as affordable. If that proportion drops below 10 percent in the 2020 census, developers could be allowed to bypass zoning regulations to build a major housing development that contains affordable units.

A related warrant article to property owners to borrow from Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds to pay for creating or renovate affordable accessory apartments was passed over. Housing Commission Chair Allen Vander Meulen said Monday that the loan program will still be offered, but at least initially, it turned out to be procedurally easier to use money from the Housing Trust rather than the CPA.

At the State of the Town meeting in November, Lincoln Housing Coalition member Pamela Gallup explained that the program was intended as an incentive to property owners. The program would offer a loan of up to $25,000 that would secured by a lien on the property but would not contingent on the homeowner’s income, and it would have to be repaid in full when the house is sold.

There are about 70 permitted accessory apartments with permits in town already, plus an unknown number without permits. Officials hope the tax exemption and loan program will tempt more people to register their existing affordable units and thus boost the town’s inventory.

Speed limits

Residents voted to accept the provisions of a new state statute that would allow the Board of Selectmen to set a 25-mph speed limit on local roads in areas of town designated as“thickly settled or as a business district.

“There are very few if any areas in Lincoln that are currently eligible, but that could change in the future,” said Selectman Peter Braun. “We recommend adding this capacity to the selectmen’s toolbag for future use.”

The original motion asked that the town “accept the provisions of Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 90, Section 17C, in the interests of public safety and without further authority,” to establish the 25-mph speed limit as allowed by that statute. But after some debate about what specific powers the selectmen would have if the motion passed, officials amended the motion to delete everything after the statute citation, and it passed with a handful of nay votes.

Right to Farm bylaw

Owners of property measuring two to five acres may now keep farm animals (except pigs) for commercial agricultural purposes if annual sales are less than $5,000 per acre. Previously, commercial animal farming was permitted only on lots of five acres or more.

There was considerable debate about whether to remove language saying that the $5,000 monetary limit would not apply to off-site sales. Two voice votes on whether to approve the amendment itself were inconclusive, and a count of hands resulted in defeat of the amendment by a margin of 84 to 61. The original motion to change the bylaw passed by the required two-thirds majority with a scattering of nay votes.

Marijuana moratorium

Voters approved a moratorium on using 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. Recreational marijuana establishments include marijuana cultivators, testing facilities, product manufacturers, or any other type of licensed marijuana-related business.

“This will give us time to work on it and figure out what we want to do,” Selectman Peter Braun said.

“This article is not well advised. Nobody can do it in Lincoln anyway” because of state licensing barriers and the high cost of land, said resident Jean Welsh, who said she takes medicinal marijuana pills to control pain from spinal stenosis. “It’s just not fact-based government. I’m very sensitive to governance based on emotion and not on fact.”

Plastic bottle and bag ban

In the wake of controversy over proposed bans on sales of individual-size plastic water bottles and retail use of disposable plastic grocery bags, officials before the meeting backed off from voting on the two measures. Instead, voters approved substitute motions that expressed support for the concerns raised by the Lincoln-Sudbury Environmental Club (which organized citizens’ petitions for the two measures) and urged the club to “continue to explore options, including the contemplated bylaws, in consultation with key Lincoln stakeholder groups.” Students will report at the State of the Town meeting in fall 2017 with possibility of presenting revised bylaws at the Annual Town Meeting in 2018.

“The route they’ve chosen to take today is exactly what the town clerk and town administrator suggested they consider,” said Selectman Peter Braun, citing ambiguities over how the bans would be enforced, as well as a lack of input from other groups including the Planning Board and the South Lincoln Planning Implementation Committee. “There’s a lot to talk about and think about… there’s room for a lot more of the Lincoln Way to occur.”

Owners of Donelan’s and Lincoln’s two new restaurants had voiced earlier opposition to the measures. “It’s a mistake to demonize bottled water,” which is clean and healthy, said Carol White, so-owner of Lincoln Kitchen and Trail’s End, adding that visitors would have difficulty finding places to refill reusable water bottles.

Residents debated the impact of a water bottle ban on business at Donelan’s. “If it’s make or break based on single-use plastic bottles, that store is in serious trouble,” said Sara Mattes. Others worried that a ban on water bottles will simply push customers to buy sugary drinks instead, with one person suggesting a ban on all plastic drink bottles.

Regarding plastic grocery bags, resident Andrew Young cited studies showing that the life cycle of paper bags actually results in more energy and well as its own form of environmental damage. “If you forget your reusable bags, plastic is actually the better choice,” he said.

Officials and several residents praised the students for their hard work and commitment, and their willingness to change course shortly before Town Meeting.

Town Meeting approves Wang purchase and solar initiatives

The site of the Wang land just south of Bedford Road’s intersection with Route 2 (click to enlarge).

Residents paved the way for a new athletic field, more conservation land, and a municipal solar power installation as well as easing rules on home solar installations with three Town Meeting votes last week.

Amid much clapping and cheering, residents unanimously approved purchase of 12 acres of the Wang property off Bedford Road. The town will purchase the land from the Rural Land Foundation, which (together with the Birches School) bought a 16-acre parcel from the estate of Lorraine Wang. Birches will use four acres including a large house to relocate its school from its current quarters in the Stone Church building. Three of the town’s 12 acres will be used to build a much-needed athletic field while the rest goes into conservation.

The town’s $2 million expenditure—$800,000 for the land plus $1.2 million for athletic field construction—will come from bonding $1.3 million over 15 years, to be repaid with anticipated income from the Community Preservation Act (CPA). Another $500,000 will come from the general balance and $200,000 from Lincoln Youth Soccer (LYS).

CPA funds come from a 3 percent property tax surcharge and a partial match from the state. The fund replenishes annually by about $950,000, so there will still be money left over for other capital projects in coming years.

Cars will access the site only from Bedford Road, though walkers will be able to get there via conservation trails. The town will also get a permanent easement for use of the future Birches School parking lot as well as a bathroom accessible from the field.

LYS and Park and Rec sponsored an engineering study of the town’s athletic fields that confirmed they were in bad shape from overuse and lack of irrigation. “There’s very little topsoil and the field are incredible compacted” to the point that aerators have gotten broken, Parks and Recreation Department Director Dan Pereira said at Town Meeting.

Adding the new field will help somewhat, but the other fields on the school campus will still need help, ideally from installing irrigation. However, given the ongoing drought and other upcoming expenditures, “it’s not a great time to be considering that… we’re under no misconception this is a simple fix,” Pereira said. Park and Rec is working with the Water Commission to investigate solutions such as using reclaimed water, he added.

Solar installation atop landfill

The nine acres of new town conservation land connects two other parcels of existing conservation property but also serves another purpose. It will allow the town to make a “land swap” so some of its transfer station property can be taken out of conservation and turned into a solar photovoltaic facility that could supply as much as half of the town’s publicly used electricity.

The solar installation on 7.1 acres of the capped landfill next to the transfer station could generate 650-980 kilowatts for the town. It’s unclear how much savings that will translate into because the tax credit situation is “in flux right now,” said John Snell, chair of the Green Energy Committee (GEC). Any agreement with a solar installer must be at least revenue neutral for the town, “but we think we can do better than that,” he added.

Although the landfill is “obviously not the crown jewel of Lincoln open space,” said resident Bob Domnitz, “this asset isn’t something we should give away without something coming back to the town… Please make sure the town gets some significant financial benefit from this project.”

The amended bylaw also calls for the town to “devote reasonable efforts” to use the existing driveway from Route 2A rather than a possible new entrance from Mill Street.

Once the town gets formal permission from the state for the land swap, officials will look for a solar developer in the hope of starting construction next year.

Relaxing rules for home solar

Solar installations on private homes will be less restrictive after another Town Meeting bylaw amendment vote. A 2013 change allowed rooftop solar installations but said that they had to have a setback from the roof edges of at least one foot. This requirement made some smaller projects uneconomical by reducing the available roof area “by a fairly significant margin” (44 percent in one case), said GEC member Jim Hutchinson.

The amended bylaw removes that setback requirement and increased the maximum allowed height for ground-mounted solar installation from 10 to 12 feet. The Planning Board may also now grant waivers to the solar installation requirements on a case-by-case basis.

Recap of background stories for Town Meeting

In preparation for the March 25 Town Meeting, the Lincoln Squirrel is publishing an updated and expanded expanded recap of news stories and letters to the editor on some of the issues to be voted on. The full warrant list can be found here.

Wang property acquisition (article 11)

News stories:

Letters to the editor:

Accessory apartments (articles 12-14)

News stories:

Letters to the editor:

School project (articles 33 and 34)

News stories:

Letter to the editor:

Community center feasibility study (article 35)

News stories:

Letter to the editor:

Landfill solar initiative (article 36)

News stories:

Letter to the editor:

Agricultural bylaw amendment (article 38)

News story:

Water bottle/plastic bag ban (articles 41 and 42)

News stories:

Letters to the editor:

Correction

In a March 21 article about an upcoming public hearing on the cell tower at 295 Cambridge Turnpike, the location was misidentified as being behind Tracey’s Service Station. The tower is actually on property further east owned by Farrington Memorial between Page and Old County Roads. The article has been updated to reflect this correction.

Drumlin Farm prepares to build new Environmental Learning Center

A map of Drumlin Farm showing the education building (circled in red) and the Farm Life Center (circled in green). Click to enlarge.

As part of an ongoing series of upgrades, Drumlin Farm recently got permission to demolish its education building in preparation for erecting a new one.

The new Environmental Learning Center will be the hub for all of Drumlin Farm’s environmental education programming, including the summer camp. The current education building—which was built as an open screened shelter in the 1960s and later expanded, enclosed, and heated—“is in desperate need of replacement to reflect the volume and quality of programs we offer,”said Drumlin Farm Sanctuary Director Renata Pomponi.

Drumlin employs about 15 year-round educators and conducts about 40,000 educational programs (some off-site). Upcoming programs at the farm include Woolapalooza on March 25 and April vacation week activities for kids.

At 3,700 square feet, the Environmental Learning Center, which is being funded as part of Drumlin’s capital campaign, will be almost three times the size of the existing structure. It will be in the same location but turned 90 degrees, and solar panels will supply all of its energy.

In approving the old education building’s demolition in February, the Historical Commission reviewed the plans for the replacement and deemed it “sympathetic to the site, low, and not intrusive,” according to meeting minutes.

Several years ago, Drumlin replaced its Farm Life Center, where most programs that involve cooking take place. That building was recently awarded LEED Gold certification for green design and energy efficiency. Heating, cooling and lighting are powered by a solar array on the nearby sheep and goat barn, and some of the lumber used in construction was milled from trees harvested at Drumlin.

The farm’s New England Wildlife Explorations exhibit opened in November, replacing the old Drumlin Underground exhibit. As before, the facility houses rabbits, insects and other small wild animals, including the popular fox (who has more space than before), and the entire facility is handicapped-accessible. Additionally, the “green barn” was recently renovated to add two classrooms and a root cellar for storing produce year-round to enable Drumlin to expand its winter CSA.

Drumlin Farm hopes to renovate its wildlife care facility and will also continue to enhance its physical and programmatic resources to give people of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds an opportunity to connect meaningfully to nature.

Hearing set for replacement cell tower

Existing (top) and projected coverage for Verizon Wireless customers if the tower behind Tracey’s is replaced. The blue marker shows the location of the existing tower; the red one just east of I-95 is another tower in Lexington that would be decommissioned. (Click to enlarge)

(Editor’s note: This article was updated on March 22 to incorporate a correction in the description of the cell tower’s location.)

A plan to replace the 55-foot cell tower adjacent to Route 2 between Page and Old County Roads with a new 75-foot monopole will be the subject of a Planning Board hearing on Tuesday, March 28 at 7 p.m.

Crown Castle wants to build a replacement tower at 295 Cambridge Turnpike and decommission another tower to the southeast in Lexington. The change will not affect coverage for customers of Sprint, the current tower’s tenant, but will improve service for new tenant Verizon Wireless. The structure will also have room for a third wireless tenant, said Michael Giaimo, an attorney representing Crown Castle.

The proposed tower height “was determined by what is allowed under the Lincoln Bylaw and the coverage needs of the carriers locating on the tower,” Giaimo said. The Planning Board oversaw a visibility test on March 11 when a tethered red balloon at the proposed height of the new tower was flown from the current structure.

Last year, the MBTA proposed three new monopoles along the railroad tracks in Lincoln with the potential accommodate cell phone service providers, though their primary purpose was to comply with a federal mandate for emergency train stop controls. A public hearing scheduled in April was postponed until the MBTA completes the permitting process with the Federal Communications Commission.

Letter to the editor: Soccer players urge ‘yes’ vote on Wang land

letter

To the editor:

There’s good news and bad news about Lincoln’s athletic fields. The good news: youth recreation is at an all-time high and our kids are using our fields more than ever. The bad news: the few fields we have in Lincoln are vastly overused. This, combined with a lack of irrigation, has created terrible playing conditions for the more than 327 families who participate in Lincoln Youth Soccer (LYS). If you’ve had the opportunity to walk our fields, you know this. If you haven’t, this may come as a surprise. A third-party report, commissioned by Parks & Rec and LYS this fall, confirmed that:

  • our fields are in terrible shape
  • despite investments in maintenance, the fields are deteriorating
  • improving the quality of our fields will require irrigation and rest.

That we find ourselves in this situation in Lincoln—a town known for its love of open spaces—is surprising. As president of LYS, the largest youth athletic association in town, I hear this frequently from our families and the many who travel to Lincoln to compete against our teams.

At the upcoming Town Meeting on March 25, we have a unique opportunity to turn this situation around. Up for consideration is a warrant article to purchase 12 acres of land—three of which would be developed as an athletic field and nine to be conserved. We will be asked to approve $1.8 million in Community Preservation Act funds to underwrite this endeavor with no negative impact to taxes or ability to bond future projects. To show our support, LYS has led a fund-raising effort to contribute $200,000 of private donations to the project.

On behalf of LYS and the hundreds of children running around our fields, I strongly encourage you to attend Town Meeting on March 25 and to vote YES. This investment allows us to increase our field inventory and ensure our recreational fields are treated with the same care as our many wonderful open spaces.

Sincerely,

Eric Harnden
20 Todd Pond Rd.

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.

Letter to the editor: Vote yes on solar array at landfill

letterTo the editor:

Without question, we Lincolnites are dedicated conservationists. Almost 35 percent of the town’s land is protected, giving us five square miles of undeveloped natural habitats for wildlife and plant life, fresh air, clean streams, and long stretches of space to walk and reflect.

It’s perhaps not surprising, then, that we also care about sustainability and the environment. In a recent Green Energy Committee survey, 90 percent of respondents indicated an interest in rooftop solar out of concern for climate change; 65 percent were concerned about the global politics of fossil fuels.

There is a direct connection between climate change and energy consumption. In Massachusetts, state law requires a minimum of 12 percent of its electricity be supplied from renewable sources in 2017, with those minimums increasing at just 1 percent each year. This means that the remainder—up to 88 percent—comes from dirtier or more dangerous sources. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, more than 63 percent of Massachusetts electricity came from burning natural gas, petroleum, and coal in 2016.

Fortunately, Lincoln has alternatives. Many volunteers have worked tirelessly over the past several years to explore supplying a portion of the municipal electricity with locally sourced clean energy. A Selectman-appointed Solar PV Working Group developed a Solar Blueprint, a detailed analysis of 25 municipally owned sites for potential solar arrays. These sites included school buildings and parking lots, public buildings, Codman Farm, and the capped landfill at the transfer station, automatically eliminating options that were located on environmentally sensitive lands, in historic districts, or with too much shade.

Two sites were ultimately selected for near-term solar installations that have the potential to generate up to 50 percent of the municipal electricity supply: a 45kW array on the Public Safety Building along Lincoln Road, and a 600-1,000kW array on the landfill at the transfer station.

Landfills have been natural first choices to host solar arrays in communities throughout the United States. Capping a landfill involves layering over a contaminated trash heap with a plastic-like drainage material, then clay and gravel, topped off with a vegetative layer to prevent soil erosion. In June 2016, Lincoln published a study on the environmental impact of using Lincoln’s capped landfill for a solar array. The study determined that the site provides low-quality habitat for wildlife and native plants.

To install solar PV at the landfill, Lincoln must identify and designate an equivalent amount of non-conservation protected land into conservation protection. The town’s proposed acquisition of An and Lorraine Wang’s property on Bedford Road provides an excellent opportunity for a win-win: using poor-quality land from a capped landfill to host solar electricity generation, and acquiring equivalent or better-quality land to contribute to Lincoln’s current Article 97-protected stock of conservation land. After a thorough review, the Conservation Commission unanimously voted in December to support the project and the removal of the capped landfill property from Article 97.

The proposed landfill solar PV generation system exemplifies Lincoln’s active engagement in and support for environmental conservation and stewardship projects. The landfill solar PV project has benefited from well-developed research, thoughtful consideration, and community engagement process. By continuing to move in the direction of clean, local, and renewable energy supplies, we will leave a more sustainable environment in Lincoln for future generations to come.

We encourage you to vote “yes” on Article 36 at Town Meeting on March 25.

Sincerely,
The Lincoln Solar PV Working Group

(Renel Fredriksen, Board of Selectmen; Tom Gumbart, Jim Henderson, and Peter von Mertens, Conservation Commission; Tim Higgins, Town Administrator; John Snell, Green Energy Committee; and Gary Taylor, Planning Board)

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.