The Lincoln Squirrel

News, features and photos from Lincoln, Mass.

My Turn

My Turn: Reject Option E if you support fairness in Lincoln

By Jonathan Soo

All Lincoln residents should feel threatened by how Option E supporters changed the rules so that they could force a plan developed in secret by an unaccountable private group onto the December 2 Town Meeting ballot and making what should have been an unofficial survey into a binding vote* for the plan that will be presented at the March 2024 Town Meeting.

In 2022, after the MBTA Communities Act was signed into law, the town created a detailed plan describing how it would develop a zoning bylaw. The town committed to having a town working group create a new zoning bylaw, followed by public hearings leading up to the March 2024 Town Meeting.

The town’s Housing Choice Act Working Group (HCAWG) collectively spent hundreds of hours evaluating and developing a number of options, gathering feedback from affected residents in a series of information sessions, and carefully ensuring that the proposed options meet not only the state’s requirements but also federal Fair Housing Act requirements, Lincoln’s Comprehensive Long Range Plan, and other obligations. 

This fall, a small group of people opposed to additional housing in the town center decided that rather than making their case in March, they would hijack the process by developing their own plan using every loophole available to make sure no new housing could be built there. This plan was developed in secret by a small group of self-selected insiders, with no minutes or records of who participated or even when meetings were held.

On November 14, the Select Board voted to change the rules of the game. It asked HCAWG to rubber-stamp Option E so that it could be added to the ballot without review, and announced that the informal survey at the December 2 Town Meeting would be changed into a binding vote to select the option to be placed on the March ballot, effectively adding a primary vote to the process with two weeks’ notice — with one of those two weeks being the Thanksgiving holiday.

Even if Option E was developed in a legitimate way, changing the December 2 vote from a survey to a binding vote is an incredibly unfair change to the process. It is simply not possible for town residents to digest and evaluate all of the options in just a few days, especially since one of the options has only been publicly known for a single week. Too many residents will be entering the meeting with no real understanding of the implications of voting for each choice, to be swayed by a few minutes of rhetoric before the vote.

On top of this, many residents will be unable to rearrange their schedules at short notice to attend the meeting, assuming they hear about the changes at all. Most residents interested in the process still have a postcard on their refrigerators describing the December 2 meeting as “‘Sense of the Town’ from residents via an informal paper ballot on preferred option – C or D.”

Of course, Option E was not developed in a legitimate way — not in any way that should be acceptable for the town to place on a binding ballot. By placing it on the ballot and stating that it is a viable choice for the March 3 vote, the Selects are saying that the town stands behind it morally, ethically, and legally. No zoning law developed in secret should be allowed on any town ballot.

Every Lincoln resident, no matter which of the town’s options they support (C, D1, D2, or D3), should go to Town Meeting and vote against Option E as long as it has not been rejected. 

* Editor’s note: Although the vote is binding, changes may still be made to bring the measure into compliance with state law if necessary — see the HCAWG website (Q&A #4 under “2023 11 22 FAQs).”

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

My Turn: The tax impact of Option 1 for the community center

By Lynne Smith

On December 2, many of us will go to the Donaldson Auditorium in our new school to vote on the options for a community center. The newsletter sent by the Selects last week estimated the tax impact of three building options.

Here I will focus on Option 1, the 100% option that will cost $24.01 million. For households with a median tax bill of $17,488, this option will increase annual taxes by about $773.* The new school, which cost approximately $93 million, resulted in an annual tax increase of $2,100.**

These are big numbers, especially when you do the math: the bonded debt for the school over 30 years adds up to about $63,000 for each household.

When you do the math for Option 1 for the community center, the bonded debt over 30 years is about $23,190 for each household.

Everyone who attends the meeting can decide on the value of a new community center building for their household. I have not yet decided how I will vote but I am thinking seriously about the decisions our generation of Lincoln residents is making. Brand-new buildings will saddle us with large tax bills for years to come. And our irreplaceable historic buildings require our stewardship for their continued use.

As a recent New York Times article said about Town Meetings, “The most important part of these meetings is always the ensemble of townspeople who stand at the small podium to ask, sometimes beg, that our needs be met, wrongs be prevented or righted.” That’s a lot to ask of a municipal meeting — but let us have the courage to do so.

I look forward to meeting again in the auditorium and seeing my friends, neighbors, committee members and town staff as we gather to participate in democratic governance on December 2!

* If the entire cost were paid through bonding at an interest rate of 4–4.5%.

** See note on page 6 in the FinCom’s “Town Capital Capacity” presentation in September 2023.

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

My Turn: In support of Option C and more housing at the mall

By Ruth Ann Hendrickson

I support new and more affordable housing in Lincoln, and I’d like to see most of it in the area of the train station and the Lincoln Mall. I will therefore be supporting option C at the Special Town Meeting on December 2.

1. Option C is the best hope for retaining the retail businesses at the mall. I remember when the roof caved in and Donelan’s was out of business for over a year. We missed them terribly. If we even needed a pint of cream, we had to go out of town.

Retail is struggling all over the country, but I notice that West Concord (population 7,003 per census data: ACS 2021), which developed a large apartment complex near the Nashoba Brook a few years ago, has managed to retain real retail, not just banks and restaurants. I am hoping that with enough new housing in the mall area, we also could have a thriving retail center.

2. History shows that adding new housing enriches the town. Yes, change is always worrisome. When Farrar Pond Village near where I live was proposed, the neighbors were violently against it because of traffic fears. The traffic has not materialized, and Farrar Pond Village has turned out to be a wonderful place for Lincoln people to retire. Recently, because of the cost of housing, it has also attracted families with children, to the extent that they have built a playground.

When the town developed Lincoln Woods, people were aghast — a much denser than Farrar Pond Village, and right there in the middle of town! And yet I know someone who works at Donelan’s who is able to live there, and a friend of mine who has MS is also able to live there to be near her mother. This complex has definitely given living options to Lincoln people who needed it. The proposed new housing would again add housing for our children and those who work here.

3. Our agricultural heritage is safe. Remember, 40% of the Lincoln is permanently in conservation. Forty percent! Those fields will continue to be farmed by local farmers. Codman Community Farms belong to the town and will also remain in perpetuity. The trails we love to walk will always be there. Adding some higher density housing near the train station will not affect that.

4. Do not be fooled by Option E. Some think that, if we chose Option E, we can slow down and develop housing at our own pace under the Town Meeting process. Most of the towns around us, however, will have designated large areas as multifamily by right. What developer in his right mind would risk thousands of dollars to take a proposal to Town Meeting only to see it voted down, when he could easily go to the next town and develop something by right?

The RLF will be unable to replenish their endowment and revitalize the mall in this new housing development environment. Please vote to allow the RLF to develop the mall/housing complex by right. The RLF is a nonprofit whose mission is to assist the town of Lincoln in shaping its land-use destiny. History has show that they can be trusted to work to the town’s benefit.

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

My Turn: Option E and more new housing

By Lynne Smith

I support new and more affordable housing in Lincoln and I’d like to see some of it developed as the town has always done it, especially at the Lincoln Mall owned by the Rural Land Foundation. I would also like to see the preservation of our small retail area and a more vibrant commercial center.

At the Special Town Meeting on December 2, using ranked choice voting, Lincoln will select one option to be rezoned as required by the state’s Housing Choice Act (HCA). Lincoln’s HCA Working Group (HCAWG) will likely present five options, one of which was created by the recently formed Lincoln Residents for Housing Alternatives (LRHA) and is called Option E.

The Lincoln Process: ~ 800 multifamily units over 60 years

Over the last 60 years, Lincoln has added almost 800 multifamily homes — 40% of our total number of housing units.* During this time, the town process allowed us to hold on to the rural character of our town while welcoming new families to moderately priced homes, accommodating older people in age-restricted developments, and insuring that over 15% of homes were “affordable.”

The Housing Choice Act: 635+ new units allowed

The HCA requires that Lincoln rezone to allow a minimum of 635 units and gives developers “by right” zoning, which means they can bypass approvals by the Planning Board, Zoning Board, and Town Meeting (editor’s note: as long as they adhere to some preexisting requirements concerning height, wetlands, etc.). A maximum of just 10% may be zoned as affordable. At 635 units, Lincoln is the only MBTA community in the state asked to zone for an amount of units over 25% of its existing housing.  The reason is that the state model includes Hanscom housing in its calculation of Lincoln’s units although the town is not allowed to rezone any areas there.

My Conundrum

I have been struggling with this conundrum: I want new multifamily housing at market rate or below. I want to get credit for our many existing units. While I want some units developed soon, especially at the mall, I don’t want more than we can absorb and plan for all at once. Among many concerns, the following stand out for me.

  • Lincoln Mall: This precious part of town near Donelan’s and the MBTA commuter rail stop is the logical place for new housing. The Rural Land Foundation has asked to have it rezoned to allow for mixed-use residential and commercial buildings. Recently, the HCAWG and the Selects have proposed that a new warrant article in March could ensure that traffic studies, parking, affordability, retail spaces, and other considerations would follow the Lincoln approval process. Option E is the only option that excludes the mall from HCA rezoning and would allow the town to shape the outcome collaboratively with a developer.
  • Affordability: Lincoln is an expensive town, made more so by property taxes, which are not offset by commercial development, and by our wonderful conservation land, which increases land value. Because of today’s high construction costs, “luxury” condos and apartments are now the norm for developers who want to make a profit. HCA allows towns to require only 10% affordable units. If Lincoln wants more, this means the town must subsidize affordability as we did for Oriole Landing—or look for developers who have a good track record for building low-cost, high-quality, sustainable projects.The nonprofit Community Builders, current owners and operators of Lincoln Woods, are committed to that mission. Because Option E excludes the mall from HCA development, the town would be able to negotiate higher affordability while still actively allowing new housing and commercial spaces.
  • Compliance and existing multifamily areas: Lincoln should get recognition for its existing multifamily developments. Rezoning some of these areas is a reasonable way to gain compliance with HCA requirements, which would make Lincoln eligible for state funds for infrastructure improvements such as our badly needed replacement water mains. Option E includes Lincoln Woods, Battle Road Farm, and areas along Lincoln Road as part of HCA rezoning.
Informed decision on December 2

I believe we can find a way to comply with HCA rules and also develop new housing units, especially at the Lincoln Mall, without sacrificing our Lincoln process. Option E will help us do just that. It would divide redevelopment evenly between the village center (45.7%) and North Lincoln (54.3%), would fully comply with HCA requirements, would avoid allowing for a greater number of units than called for, and would exempt Lincoln Mall development from HCA requirements. I hope everyone will review Option E here and be prepared to make an informed decision at the Special Town Meeting on December 2.

*~800 multifamily housing units developed over the last 60 years:

  • 1966: 21 condos, Todd Pond
  • 1970: 125 apartments, Lincoln Woods
  • 1977: 80 condos, Farrar Pond
  • 1979: 58 condos, Lincoln Ridge
  • 1981: 25 condos, Green Ridge
  • 1990: 120 town homes, Battle Road Farm
  • 1991: 25 age-restricted condos, Ryan Estate
  • 2000: ~262 age-restricted condos, The Commons
  • 2006: 32 age-restricted condos, Minuteman Commons
  • 2022: 60 apartments, Oriole Landing

Source caveat: Various online sites for each of the areas named may not have the exact number of units and dates are approximate based on available information.

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

My Turn: Please donate to help fund a new L-S student group

By Vama Gandhi

My name is Vama Gandhi and I am a sophomore at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School. A few months ago, my friend Farhan Khan and I came across an organization called Health Occupations Students of America, better known as HOSA. HOSA has an array of competitive events ranging from leadership to the health sciences which aim to equip future health professionals with the skills necessary for success.

We want to bring a chapter of HOSA to L-S to allow us an opportunity to delve into medicine and kindle a similar passion in our peers. The installation of this club would not only benefit current students but also generations to come. However, we need your help to make this happen.

HOSA charges each of its members two fees: a membership and conference fee, which are $30 and $45, respectively. However, some members cannot pay the collective $75 and require financial aid. The community’s contributions will help cover these costs and ensure that financial status is not a barrier to anyone from participating in the club.

To make this possible, we must raise roughly $1,500 in one month (the deadline is November 15). We are asking for the help of the Lincoln Community to achieve this goal. The members of our club are willing to provide services to any of the residents of our local community in order to earn the money needed. This could mean doing yard work, babysitting, or helping out in any other way. Our GoFundMe site is here: gofund.me/c6511e68.

Help us empower a generation of future healthcare leaders.

Vama Gandhi (vamagandhi25@gmail.com) is a Lincoln resident and Farhan Khan (khafa776@gmail.com) is from Sudbury.

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

My Turn: New website offers appealing options for compliance with the Housing Choice Act

By Lynne Smith

The Housing Choice Act (HCA) asks Massachusetts communities with public transit in the greater Boston area to rezone parts of their town to allow “by right” development of multifamily housing if they want to remain eligible for three state grant programs. “By right” means that the developer of the property would not have to go to Town Meeting to permit the development. The HCA Working Group (HCAWG) is currently developing rezoning options for Lincoln.

Using the models provided by the state for HCA compliance and building on the work of the HCAWG, a group calling themselves Lincoln Residents for Housing Alternatives has developed a range of new options that have real merit. They have included these options in an informative website that describes Lincoln’s particular parcels and suggests how rezoning might be accomplished without disturbing the character of the town.

The website offers a clear explanation of the compliance rules and the complex models used to develop the options. These simplified explanations in laymen’s terms helped me understand how we might rezone for maximum benefit to the town. The maps make clear how we can maintain our local and rural character by dispersing development as we have always done. In fact, 40% of Lincoln’s housing is already in multifamily developments scattered throughout the town. Over the last 60 years, this approach, requiring Town Meeting approval, has provided many units of housing requiring 15-25% affordability without increasing traffic or sacrificing conservation land.

The charts and spreadsheets in the website also make clear how we can:

  • Avoid allocating a greater number of developable units than required for compliance. We must rezone for a minimum but care must be taken not to accidentally permit a maximum.
  • Develop a greater percentage of affordable units by not making the RLF/Lincoln Station proposal “by right,” as HCA only allows us to require 10% affordable.
  • Preserve wildlife corridors and minimize traffic by carefully situating the rezoned areas in parcels that are already developed.

The website also explains the HCA compliance issues in easy-to-understand language and provides links to the relevant Massachusetts law. It describes the process Lincoln has followed to get to this point and spells out the future timelines. It also raises questions that the HCA Working Group may need further study to answer.

At the State of the Town meeting on September 30, the Working Group gave a polished and convincing description of Option C that concentrated all development near Lincoln Station. Since then, I have thought more about the impact of hundreds of new units at this small, busy area. Many others have raised critical questions about this option and the HCAWG has responded by adding three new options (D1, D2, and D3).

This new effort by the Lincoln Residents for Alternative Housing further expands the options available to meet compliance. Discussion and debate are at the heart of the “Lincoln Way” and we benefit by the skills and dedication of volunteers.

I urge everyone in Lincoln to study this new website, review the HCAWG information, and register here to attend one of the HCA meetings offered on November 8 at 8 a.m. in person or 7 p.m. virtually.

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

My Turn: How would you use a community center?

By Ellen Meyer Shorb

A friend asked me the other day, “Do you really think you will use the community center?” Absolutely, I said. Another friend leaned in to the conversation and said, “If we don’t build a community center, I may not stay in Lincoln.” The first friend said, “Tell me, how do you think you would use the center?”

Well, I said, I imagine that… since I work from home a lot and particularly when I retire, I will have a routine where I work out in the mornings at the center, in a class or on my own. After my workout, I stop by the lobby for a cup of coffee. While there, I sign up to read to second graders on Tuesday after my workout. And in my afternoon watercolor class at the center, I find myself sitting next to the second grader that I read to!

I imagine that… every Fourth of July I attend a fundraiser at the center, enjoy a barbecue and wine, see my friends, and then mosey over to the fireworks with my blanket and friends I bumped into.

I imagine that… if we’d had a center 17 years ago when we moved in during August with four kids ages 7 to 15, our realtor would have mentioned that the center has welcome ambassadors, one at Parks and Rec and one at the Council on Aging. And that I would have found out about the pool, Valley Pond, membership to the deCordova, and made my first friend through an ambassador.

I’m curious — what do you imagine? Why are you interested in a community center? 

Shorb is submitting this piece as a personal note, although she is a member of the Finance Committee and the Community Center Building Committee. You can contact her at meyershorb@gmail.com.

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

My Turn: A scaled-back 75 % option might get my vote for the community center

By Lynne Smith

At a public forum on October 10, CCBC reported on the 155 surveys turned in at the September 30 State of the Town (SOTT) meeting. Jonathan Dwyer (the member representing the Select Board) analyzed the ranked first choice results and Sarah Chester described the comments according to various categories such as cost, size, and LEAP. 

The results of the surveys seemed to lead the committee members to conclude that:

  • A 100% option would not get the required two-thirds supermajority in a town vote
  • Survey respondents preferred a one-story building over a two-story for the 75% option
  • Some respondents preferred a 50% option because of its cost but others rejected it because it did not include LEAP

Discussion from committee members and the dozens of people attending on line explored these three findings. 

I asked that ICON and the committee explore the layout of the one-story 75% option to see if the square footage and cost could be reduced. An option costing about $15 million ($3 million of which would be the LEAP renovation) would get my vote if the layout could accommodate most functions with more activities scheduled off campus. Without these changes and new information, I fear the proposal at Special Town Meeting in December will fail.

Many of us have noted the desirability of locating additional activities off campus. I will not repeat these suggestions here, but I would appreciate seeing the committee comment specifically on how these areas were explored and why they were rejected.

The committee will hold a regular meeting on October 11 to decide on the guidance for ICON as a result of the SOTT survey. As of this writing, that meeting has not yet occurred. I look forward to seeing what design changes might happen as the town barrels toward a December 2 vote at the Special Town Meeting.

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

My Turn: Majority of residents wants to keep The Commons as is

By Elizabeth Wilson

The majority of The Commons residents are NOT for the expansion. It’s very interesting that only committee members who work directly with the administrators, and who do not accurately represent the residents, are posting propaganda about the proposed expansion to The Commons.

The Commons is not going bankrupt. The money they take in from the expensive buy-ins and monthly assessments for each apartment and free-standing home can sustain the operations of The Commons. However, the new owners need to make money for themselves and to cover the debt they have incurred when buying the property and ultimately the debt they will take on in order to build the overly huge and expensive expansion proposal.

Why do people want to live at The Commons? Because Lincoln is a town that loves the principals of quiet open space. The people living at The Commons chose not to live in the Brookhaven “city” in Lexington/Waltham or the older, larger Bedford Carelton-Willard, or the large apartment-like Newbury Court in Concord or the ultra-modern new Waterstone in Lexington. People choose to live at The Commons because it is like their own home and neighborhood used to be. It feels like home. As it is.

I am a family member of a resident at The Commons. I am trying to give voice to the actual feelings of the body of residents at The Commons who are afraid, who feel helpless and are not heard, and who do not want the proposed expansion. The small group of committee members should not control the information given to the public and Lincoln residents. The committees do not represent the actual feelings of The Commons resident majority.

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

My Turn: Expansion of The Commons is a financial must

By David Levington

I’m 94 years old, and I’ve lived at The Commons for eight years. I certainly don’t look forward to two or three years of noise and disruption of life here, but I am voting in favor of the proposed expansion, and so are all eighteen residents on the two committees that have been most involved in developing the plan. Why? It’s the finances. We have one asset (The Commons) worth maybe $100 million, and liabilities of $180 million (see this financial statement). We owe $90 million in municipal bonds that pay 6-7% and another $90 million to our residents in refundable deposits.

We’re in this position because, when the prior owners decided to sell, as part of the change of ownership all the cash available was withdrawn and, using The Commons as collateral, $100 million in municipal bonds were sold (as an aside, municipal bonds that pay 6-7% are commonly referred to as “junk bonds.”

Those of us with long memories remember that we’ve been through bankruptcy; we don’t want to go through that again. The projections prepared for us show that if financial conditions continue as they are, the Commons can get through the next few years, but only on a level basis. No major improvements. But we have no financial cushion to get us through a disruption, like a pandemic. The Commons survived the pandemic, when we could admit no new residents, because we were financially healthy. That hadn’t been the case in 2013, when The Groves couldn’t survive a dip in the housing market. And that wouldn’t be the case here if we experienced a recession, a drop in the housing market, another pandemic, or any event which stopped us from admitting new residents. Not only does income go down, but we are obligated to refund the deposits of residents who die or leave for any reason.

The expansion plan will affect us all, some much more than others. There will be noise, construction traffic, heavy equipment. We will lose attractive green spaces. Despite all this, the members of the Resident Council, who are our liaison to management, all vote in favor of the proposed plan. They have been involved in every step of the plan’s development and have kept the residents aware of each step taken. A Steering Committee was formed, with six residents and staff to advise and consider each iteration. (I am a member of the Steering Committee.) We are also unanimous in support. We urge you to vote in favor of the expansion plan; I believe it is in the best interests of the residents of The Commons and the town of Lincoln.

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.