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

land use

Rezoning ideas to comply with HCA and redevelop mall are aired

The five parcels proposed for multifamily rezoning (click to enlarge). Some combinations of four of them would satisfy HCA requirements.

Five parcels of land in Lincoln have been identified for possible multifamily rezoning to satisfy the state Housing Choice Act, according to a consultant hired to help the town comply with the law. In a separate effort, the Rural Land Foundation is also proposing to rezone the area occupied by the Mall at Lincoln Station to allow redevelopment of the mall along with multifamily housing.

The HCA and mall initiatives were both presented at a multiboard meeting led by the Housing Choice Act Working Group on June 6. There will be two public forums later this month where residents can get information and ask questions, and more detailed proposals will be presented at the State of the Town meeting in September in preparation for a vote at Town Meeting in March 2024.

The state law aims to encourage more transit-oriented zoning areas on land surrounding MBTA stops by mandating “by right” zoning of at least 15 units per acre across the district. Lincoln, which has two MBTA stops (the train station and bus stop), must allow a total of 635 units.

The timeline is tight because the HCA requires commuter-rail towns such as Lincoln to have a rezoning plan in place by 18 months from now. Plans must be presented prior to a townwide vote ahead of time to the state Department of Housing and Community Development, which (along with the Attorney General’s Office) must also sign off after voter approval at Town Meeting — all by December 2024.

Early proposals for rezoning parts of Lincoln have identified five candidate parcels, four of which together would allow enough multifamily units to satisfy the HCA. Three of the parcels are in South Lincoln near the train station; the others are in north Lincoln around Oriole Landing and the Lincoln North office complex. Four of the five possible subdistrict combinations would meet all the conditions.

“You have options as a town. This is a good place to be,” said Will Cohen of consulting firm Utile Design.

Towns aren’t required to create a single multifamily district; they may split it up into several nonadjacent subdistricts. However, the work to determine which areas would together meet state requirements is constrained by a complicated set of rules and formulas. For example, one of the subdistricts must account for at least half of the district’s total land area; all the land targeted must be developable (i.e., not conservation land or wetlands); and existing properties may not be divided into more than one new zone.

In Lincoln, the district must total at least 42 acres, and 20% of that land must be within half a mile of the commuter rail station. Some of it may also be around the bus stop at the corner of Hanscom Drive and Old Bedford Road. The working group focused on those areas as well as others that already have multifamily housing.

Additional wrinkles:

  • Since the HCA is aimed at residential zoning, commercial use cannot be required in a compliant district (though it may be allowed). This limits the ability to require mixed-use development in places like South Lincoln.
  • Lincoln now requires 15% of the units in multifamily developments to be income-restricted, but the HCA doesn’t have any requirements around affordability. In fact, if a town wants to have a zone mandate that more than 10% of the units are affordable, it must pay for an independent feasibility study that will demonstrate that that local requirement will not hurt the economic viability of a proposed project. Lincoln has already taken steps to have such a study done.

Lincoln and other towns can require developers to submit a site plan review and comply with reasonable design guidelines relating to traffic circulation, screening, lighting, etc., but “they can’t put out guidelines that make it impossible to do something,” Planning Board member Margaret Olson noted.

Finance Board member Andy asked if the state would pre-approve several rezoning proposals and allow voters to choose which one they preferred. “Lincoln has a history of getting state approval, [then] turning things down at Town Meeting and getting in a bind,” he said, referring to the school project that was pre-approved and partially funded by the state but was subsequently shot down at Town Meeting in 2012.

“That’s a great question that I don’t know the answer to,” Cohen said.

The HCAWG public forums will be on:

  • Friday, June 16 at 8 a.m. in person at the Town Hall
  • Tuesday, June 20 at 7 p.m. via Zoom — click here to register.

Redeveloping the mall

Along a parallel path in recent years, the Rural Land Foundation has been thinking about how to redevelop and revitalize the Mall at Lincoln Station to make it more attractive to commercial tenants and encourage multifamily housing. They propose to create a mall subdistrict that could accommodate 42 housing units above the building now housing the Bank of America and other stores (the portion with the post office and restaurant would not be affected).

“We though that looked pretty nice and in keeping with a town village center feel,” said Michelle Barnes, chair of the Lincoln Land Conservation Trust/RLF Board of Trustees, as she showed a rendering of one idea. “Greater density doesn’t have to look as scary as we might think.”

An artist’s rendering of one concept for how the mall might look after rezoning and redevelopment. Donelan’s is the white building at left rear.

As a commercial use, the mall area can’t be in the HCA district, as noted earlier. Instead, the town could rezone the mall to allow mixed use by right while also ensuring that commercial space is preserved.

A better quality of commercial space is crucial for the economic viability of the mall, which the trustees see as “an increasingly risky and hard-to-justify fiduciary obligation of the RLF,” Barnes said. However, without the opportunity for a developer to create a viable mixed-use project, the value of the mall will decline and the RLF will probably need to sell it (which it may have to do in any case).

RLF doesn’t have the capital to redevelop the mall by itself, so the group is working with CIVICO, which won approval for and built Oriole Landing before selling it in 2022. The RLF and CIVICO are conceptualizing a project with the idea that the mall would eventually be sold to the company, but contingent on an agreed-upon design “in keeping with the town’s ethos and values” that’s developed with input from residents and town leadership, Barnes said. To guarantee long-term financial viability for the project, a minimum of 25 housing units per acre built above the commercial spaces would be needed, she added.

Along with the HCA proposal, a mall rezoning measure will be presented at the State of the Town meeting on September 30 and at Town Meeting in March 2024.

Meeting, public forums to tackle town’s options under Housing Choice Act

The Housing Choice Act Working Group (HCAWG) has scheduled a virtual multi-board meeting and two public forums in June to discuss the town’s path towards compliance with the state housing law.

The goal of the Housing Choice Act is to create more transit-oriented zoning areas (meaning areas surrounding MBTA stops including Lincoln’s train station) where multifamily housing is allowed by right. Under the updated guidelines released last fall, Lincoln would be required to allow either 692 or 563 units in one or more multifamily zones, depending on whether or not the Hanscom housing units are counted. In March, HCAWG met with consultants from Utile Design to review how the state calculates developable land and to walk through an initial analysis of current zoning in Lincoln to begin identifying areas that might be logical places for rezoning. 

The meeting co-hosted by the Select Board and the Planning Board will be on Tuesday, June 6 at 7 p.m. Click here for the Zoom link. The public forums will be:

  • Friday, June 16 at 8 a.m. in person at the Town Hall
  • Tuesday, June 20 at 7 p.m. via Zoom — click here to register.

Property sales in March 2023

5 Laurel Drive — Fred Tingley to Sivaram Balakrishnan and Vaneeta Singh for $1,220,000 (March 31)

10 Blueberry Lane — Solomon Manson Trust to Charles Harold Ryback Trust for $1,560,000 (March 30)

59 Oxbow Rd. — Shihab Ahmed to Denis and Heather Malkov for $1,228,000 (March 30)

129 Lexington Rd. — RE Investments LLC to Elizabrth Yanez for $1,895,000 (March 29)

42C Indian Camp Lane — Vicki Brathwaite to Diana Brenda Trust and Virginia Leonard Revocable Trust for $379,000 (March 27)

12 Deer Run Rd. — Suvitya Nopakun to Mitchel Westwood and Sherya Dave for $1,515,000 (March 22)

200 Old County Rd. — Gulrez Arshad to Shengjun Ren abd Yu Zhang for $650,000 (March 16)

128 Chestnut Circle #6 — Stephanie Smoot to Philip and Mary Jane Sarocco for $675,000 (March 15)

Town moves forward with firm to build solar installation at landfill

After years of stops and starts, solar panels may finally start appearing on the capped town landfill in late 2024. 

The town recently selected HESP Solar of Montvale, N.J., to build a solar voltaic facility that will provide 1 MW of electricity, which is about what’s needed to power town-owned buildings excluding the schools. The electricity will go directly to the electrical grid and the town will receive income from a power purchase agreement (PPA).

Although the firm is not based in Massachusetts, during the bid process they brought in a Massachusetts attorney to better understand the Commonwealth’s regulatory and incentive processes, an electrical engineering firm that has built solar projects atop landfills in the past, and a geotechnical firm to learn more about the landfill, said consultant Beth Greenblatt at the March 20 Select Board meeting. Greenblatt works for Beacon Integrated Solutions, which was also involved in creating the PPA for the Lincoln School’s solar installation.

“They will work to accommodate the town in all ways possible. I think they’ll be a very good partner for the town,” she said.

Lincoln won’t have to pay anything and will actually see three revenue streams from the deal. In addition to income from the PPA in the form of electricity savings — estimated at $170,000 to $200,000 per year — HESP Solar will make lease payments for use of the land and PILOT (payments in lieu of taxes) for their personal property on the site.

“Financially it’s an attractive proposition for the town,” observed Town Administrator Tim Higgins.The project was slowed by several factors including the pandemic and lengthy negotiations with Minute Man National Historical Park. The park owns the right of way on either side of Route 2A, so the town needed their approval to install power lines from the landfill out to the road. Before the facility can go on line, the interconnection process will need multiple approvals including Eversource and MassDEP, which will permit reuse of the landfill. Construction contracts could be signed in about a year.

Hanscom runway repaving will affect nearby Lincoln residents

Starting in June, part of a Hanscom Field runway will be repaved, causing disruptions for Virginia Road residents. 

The routine 20-year repaving of the runway that runs from southwest to northeast is not related to a recent proposal to add hangars and reconfigure a taxiway at Hanscom Field.

Massport officials said at a recent Hanscom Field Advisory Commission meeting that paving trucks will be routed along Virginia Road in Lincoln to Hanscom Drive to Route 2A and Route 128, according to HFAC member Chris Eliot and a March 24 article in the Bedford Citizen. During a 37-day period, the paving trucks will operate for 20 days (daytime Monday through Friday), with about 100 truckloads (50 round trips) for each of those days.

There will also be some changes to flight patterns resulting from the monthlong closure of the runway, so some residents will hear more flights and some will hear less during this period. 

Residents of the nearby Battle Road Farm condo development, which is accessed from Old Bedford Road (which runs between Virginia Road and Hanscom Drive) are also worried about dust and construction debris that may be shed by trucks leaving the construction area.

The northern segment of the runway will be repaved in 2024, but the truck traffic for that work will be routed through Bedford. 

The 2023 project will also include restoration of more than nine acres of grass along the sides of the runway, which was originally sized for larger military aircraft.

Annual Town Meeting is (mostly) controversy-free

(Editor’s note: This article was updated on March 27 to reflect several corrections.)

Lincoln’s Annual Town Meeting on March 25 sailed along with little discussion and quick approvals of dozens of warrant articles — until the very last one.

Article 31 asked voters to approve a petition to the state legislature to change the Housing Commission makeup from five members to seven, all of whom would be appointed by the Select Board. Currently the commission has five members — three elected and two appointed as non-voting liaisons from the Council on Aging & Human Services and the cohort of affordable housing residents. The measure also sought to change the term of office from the current five years to rotating three-year terms.

  • Town Meeting links including article list, warrant, consent calendar, motions, annual report

Running for election to a town board or commission “is not for everyone,” Select Board member Jonathan Dwyer said. Making all members appointed rather than elected and shortening the term of office would “make the on-ramp easier for people to participate.”

The measure “doesn’t take the people’s voice out of peoples hands” because any housing policy changes would still need Town Meeting approval, Housing Commission Chair Rachel Drew said. But several residents spoke out against the idea of having the entire commission appointed. “I would be a lot more comfortable” in keeping some members elected,” Barbara Low said. 

“It’s sending a message that we do not trust the voters, though I do not think that was intentional at all and not what was compelling this,” said Sara Mattes. She proposed an amendment increasing the membership to nine, with seven appointed and two elected. Vander Meulen responded by saying that Mattes had spoken with him and Rachel Drew before the meeting and thanked her. He added that he had worked with Town Counsel Joel Bard to draw up an amendment that addressed Mattes’s concerns, calling for a group of up to seven members (four appointed and three elected). Mattes agreed to use the proposed language in place of her own amendment’s wording.

However, more disagreement arose because the bylaw would still specify the old composition of the board, and the Town Meeting measure would have only authorized the Select Board to work with the legislature to amend the law. “That takes it very far from the voters,” said Bob Domnitz.

“We should go to the legislature with the bylaw we want to submit, not one that needs to be fixed. This feels like it’s getting a little lazy here,” said Stephen Binder. A voice vote on whether to accept the amendment was inconclusive, leading to a standing vote. Residents in the auditorium and gum rejected the amendment by a margin of three votes, and the original motion passed with about a dozen “no” votes.

Fond farewells

Before that final article, the most notable aspect of the Town Meeting was acknowledging the retirements of several fixtures among town officialdom: Superintendent of Schools Becky McFall, Town Counsel Joel Bard, Lincoln-Sudbury Superintendent/Principal Bella Wong, Lincoln Public Library Director Barbara Myles, and longtime Water Commission member Ruth Ann Hendrickson, who also received the annual Bright Light Award.

Hutchinson praised Hendrickson’s “ability to calmly and reassuringly give not great news to the public” during a time of Water Department turmoil and rate hikes, as well as her “scientific background, curiosity, and devotion to public service, which included memberships on several other boards in past years. Hendrickson donated the $500 stipend to the St. Vincent de Paul food pantry.

An emotional McFall thanked the many School Committee members, faculty, and teacher’s union representatives she worked with over the past 11 years. “I can honestly say that working here in Lincoln is the greatest honor and privilege of my career,” she said. “I will forever consider myself part of Lincoln and am just grateful for the opportunities I’ve had.”

Other Town Meeting highlights
  • Every spending measure was unanimously approved, as was a larger-than-usual transfer from free cash to the debt stabilization fund of $1.64 million, bringing the fund to a new total of more than $5 million. The fund will play an important part in defraying the cost of a future community center. “This is the most exciting item on the consent calendar,” said former Finance Committee Chair Peyton Marshall. “$1.6 million is not trivial.”
  • Voters approved adopting the Specialized Energy Code (Article 29), which goes further than the current “stretch code” for environmentally friendly construction, and adopted rules (Article 30) that prohibit new buildings and major renovation projects that are not fossil fuel-free, with some exceptions. The second measure makes Lincoln one of 10 “demonstration” towns in Massachusetts designated by the legislature. Click here for links to more information about Articles 29 and 30.
  • Changes intended to encourage more accessory apartments were approved. Residents may now create accessory apartments within their main dwelling by right as long as they follow the rest of the bylaw’s rules. Accessory apartments in small separate buildings still require approval from the Zoning Board of Appeals. The amended law also requires a parking space for the apartment and prohibits split ownership of the property to prevent condo conversion.
  • Several articles on the warrant were passed over:
    • Article 23 — motion to rescind a Water Department bond authorization,
    • Article 25 — motion to amend the wording about cluster development proponents being required to give the town and/or the Lincoln Land Conservation Trust interests in land as part of the approval process. “We decided law was adequate and no changes are needed,” Planning Board Chair Bob Domnitz said.
    • Article 27 — motion to amend zoning rules to allow certain residential, business and mixed uses by right in the Lewis Street/Doherty’s area. “The Planning Board has recognized for some time that the zoning for the B2 business district needs updating,” Domnitz said. However, in August the state issued revised guidelines to the Housing Choice Act that could affect that area, so the Planning Board will wait until the town has an “integrated plan” for whether it will comply with the HCA and whether the B2 district will be part of that plan. 
    • Article 32 — motion regarding the proposed property tax circuit breaker that requires authorization from the legislature,

Hanscom Field group meets Tuesday

The Hanscom Field Advisory Commission will discuss the latest developments on the proposed Hanscom Field expansion at its meeting on Tuesday, March 21 from 7–8 p.m. via Zoom (link here; passcode: 194503).

The HFAC is a monthly forum in which Massport reports on the past month’s activities to Hanscom-area towns and residents can direct questions and comments to Massport. Officials and residents from those four towns have protested a proposal to add about 408,000 square feet of new hangar space and reconfigure a taxiway to accommodate larger aircraft at Hanscom Field.

The public comment period on the initial notification process closed on February 14 and the developers must now prepare a draft Environmental Impact Report, which will be also be open to public comment before a decision on the plan is made.

Another potential wrinkle: the recent bank collapse of SVB. The head of the SVB Securities division is Jeffrey Leerink, who is also a principal of Runway Realty Ventures LLC, the owner of the Navy hangar private property that represents nearly half of the North Airfield development site, according to reporting by the Bedford Citizen.

“At this point, I don’t know if there will be any impact on the Hanscom project, but the connection raises unanswered questions,” HFAC member Christopher Eliot of Lincoln told the Citizen.

Property sales in January 2023

32D Indian Camp Lane — James Hogan to Michael Grigelevich and Johannah Ash for $418,500 (January 31)

165 Bedford Rd. — Colleen Fong Trust to Lauren Briere for $763,000 (January 31)

39 Brooks Rd. — Sanjeev Verma to L.A.M.B. Trust for $1,950,000 (January 28)

16 Huckleberry Hill — Stephanie Stankard to Emily Ann Stankard Trust and Sara Lee Stankard Trust for $1,000,000 (January 24)

Owners postpone move to expand The Commons

In this map of The Commons campus, the additional units that had been proposed are shown in yellow.

Faced with resident objections and a tight timeline, New England Life Plan Communities, which owns The Commons in Lincoln, has postponed their push for an expansion proposal that was slated for a February 28 Planning Board public hearing.

Owner’s representative OnePoint Partners submitted a proposal to the Planning Board on February 6 that called for 32 new apartments in the existing Flint and Russell buildings and eight freestanding and attached cottages at various locations on the campus. This gave residents and others about three weeks to prepare for the public hearing, which would have preceded a vote at the March 25 Annual Town Meeting. Because The Commons resides in a zoning overlay district with specific conditions, a two-thirds majority approval would have been required at that time.

“We have engaged in several conversations with current Commons residents and it has become clear that more collaboration is required to address certain elements of the project. In order to ensure these critical stakeholders are given multiple opportunities to provide input, we need more time than the few weeks before the March Town Meeting allows,” said Larry Bradshaw, chairman of the board of New England Life Plan Communities, in a February 23 letter to the Planning Board.

David Levington, a Commons resident who has been active in organizing opposition to the proposal, said he was “pleased and relieved” by the postponement. “Everyone will have to work together in an open manner so that The Commons can grow in a manner that is healthy for all. The upset has been corrected and we’re moving forward — residents, management, ownership.”

He didn’t specify whether some aspects of the proposal were more objectionable than others but added, “Eventually a new plan will be developed… and I do look forward to a collaboration in which the residents have a voice.”

“Thanks to the efforts of the executive director of The Commons, Reynaldo LeBlanc, and the Resident Council, a number of formats were provided for residents to present their questions and concerns about the proposed expansion of The Commons to the new owners and their consultant and management teams,” said council president Judith Foster. “As a result of these meetings, the owners have withdrawn the proposed plan in order to allow more time to address the concerns of residents. We are looking forward to a productive partnership between residents and the ownership team.”