Dear Lincoln friends and neighbors: What vision of Lincoln do we share? Over the past several decades, our town has voted consistently for projects that preserve open space, increase access to housing, and protect our broader environment. With Lincoln Woods and the Ryan Estates, we have welcomed new residents in the village center giving them…
South Lincoln/HCA*
My Turn: The real housing crisis is affordability
By Gail O’Keefe The HCA zoning decision looming is based on an assumption that we have a housing crisis in Massachusetts. Politicians have linked development to diversity, claiming all towns must help the state in the housing struggle. However, in looking at recent building data from local cities and towns, it seems very likely that…
Select Board issues positions on community center and HCA rezoning
(Editor’s note: This article was amended on March 10 to clarify that the Select Board did not explicitly endorse Article 3 even as it supported compliance with the Housing Choice Act.) The Select Board has endorsed both the community center project but took a more nuanced approach in its stand on a Housing Choice Act-compliant…
My Turn: In support of Article 3 at Town Meeting
By Joan Kimball I am supporting Article 3, the Housing Choice bylaw, at the March 23 Town Meeting. Having voted in favor of Article C (with the majority) at the December Special Town Meeting, I have since read carefully the pros and cons, attended meetings about the Housing Choice Act and made my decision. I…
Informational meeting on South Lincoln on Thursday
There will be an informational meeting with representatives of the Housing Choice Act Working Group and the Rural Land Foundation (owner of the mall) on Thursday, March 7 at at 7 p.m. in the Lincoln Public Library’s Tarbell Room. This will be an in-person event only, and seating will be limited. The unofficial meeting with town…
My Turn: The importance of counting the votes
By David Onigman I have lived in Lincoln most of my life. I grew up here, my mother and her four brothers lived here. I worked for various town departments through a Massport internship growing up in town, working for the Select Board, the Finance Department, and others. I attended Town Meetings growing up, running…
My Turn: Taking issue with Planning Board dissenters
By Trisha O’Hagan Editor’s note: O’Hagan has said that her quote by her in the February 27 Lincoln Squirrel story headlined “Planning Board splits 3-2 on endorsing zoning amendments” was inaccurate, so it has been removed. I attended the February 26 Planning Board meeting and felt I needed to respond when a community member emphatically…
New RLF proposal shows larger and fewer housing units
The latest iteration of early plans for developing the mall now includes fewer but larger apartments after residents said at a forum in January that the units ranging from 600 to 800 square feet were too small. At a February 29 public forum, the Rural Land Foundation, which owns the mall, proposed 40 housing units…
Clarification and addenda
In the February 27 article headlined “Planning Board splits 3-2 on endorsing zoning amendments,” links have been added to the finalized bylaw and accompanying multifamily and mixed-use zoning map. A phrase in the February 28 article headlined “Draft of HCA design guidelines released” may have been unclear as to the changing nature of public feedback…
Final bylaw includes adjustments for affordability and commercial use
The HCA zoning bylaw amendment approved on February 26 by the Planning Board includes changes to maximize housing affordability and to strictly limit the ability of an owner to reduce the amount of commercial space in the mixed-use subdistrict. Going into the meeting, the draft required 10% of multifamily housing units to be affordable. This…