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

My Turn: Neighbors helping neighbors via the SVdP food pantry in Lincoln

By Ursula Nowak

A friend and I used the break in the rain a couple of days ago and headed out into the wonderfully wet woods. As we were walking, we brainstormed about questions people might have about the work of St. Vincent de Paul and the food pantry. Here are some we came up with:

Is there need in a town like Lincoln?

Yes, there is — it’s just more hidden than in other towns. The Greater Boston Food Bank estimates that 580 food-insecure individuals live in our town. 

Who comes to you for help? 

People whose income is not enough to cover their basic needs, and individuals or families facing sudden hardship, like job loss, illness, or unexpected large expenses like car repairs.

How do you help?

SVdP offers three programs to our neighbors in need:

  • Food Pantry: We offer shelf-stable, refrigerated, and frozen items, bread, vegetables, toiletries, and cleaning supplies.
  • Financial Emergency Assistance: We have made payments for rents, utility bills, car repairs, medical bills, and other necessary expenses.
  • Scholarship Program: The services mentioned above help clients stabilize their situation. Our scholarship program for adults for career advancement empowers our neighbors to build a better life.
How much has the need increased in recent years?
  • The need in our community continues to increase year over year. From 2019–2023, the number of food pantry clients more than doubled. In 2023 we served 417 neighbors. Our clients include people who live, work, or go to school in Lincoln and Weston, with 65% of households in Lincoln.
  • Our yearly cost for food have risen fivefold from $18,000 in 2020 to $90,000 in 2023.
  • Our expenses for financial emergency assistance have nearly doubled within the last two years. In 2023, $111,000 was granted to our neighbors in need.
Do you have paid staff?

No — SVdP is an all-volunteer organization with 18 board members and approximately 50 volunteers. Because we don’t have to pay salaries, donations can directly benefit our neighbors. The varied life experiences and professional backgrounds of our members and volunteers help us stay a dynamic organization. Volunteers provide most of the services we need. Chris Knollmeyer here in Lincoln oversaw the construction of our pantry in 2018, and a professor and student at Framingham State University created our website. Instead of a paid food pantry manager, two amazing women lead the operation and split responsibilities up among many volunteers.

Do you have any success stories?

Yes! Here are a couple:

  • A restaurant worker broke her ankle and had no access to sick pay. Our rent payments helped her through this difficult time, and she is now self-sufficient again.
  • A single mother took a two-year medical technician course, graduated with straight As and does not need our support anymore. 
  • A senior got help with a rent payment. She is a regular pantry client and can make ends meet now.
How can I help?
  • We are always in need of food donations. They can be dropped off at the back porch of 142 Lincoln Rd. behind St. Joseph Church.
  • We’re also looking for people to organize neighborhood food dives (see “News Acorns,” March 4, 2024).
  • You probably received a recent letter about Spring Fundraiser. The Codman Trust has generously offered a matching grant for up to $20,000 for all donations we receive till the end of March. Please help us reach this goal; respond to the letter or donate here. We are grateful for the amazing support the Lincoln community has given us!

Nowak is president of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul of Lincoln and Weston.

“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.

News acorns

Food pantry needs help with neighborhood food drives

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVdP) food pantry is looking for volunteers to organize a neighborhood food drive. This is a great project for a young person to shine, or for anyone to step up and know they are doing something meaningful. Staff will help and can also sign for student volunteer hours.

Food drives are integral to the food pantry’s operations. With the increase in the number of clients (152 clients in January 2020 to 336 clients served in December 2023 — see SVdP’s annual report), the increase in food prices, and the decrease of food available free or at a lower cost at the Greater Boston Food Bank, our expenses have exploded. We heavily rely on donations and food drives. 

If you can’t organize a drive but still want to help, food can be dropped off any time on the back porch of the white house behind St. Joseph Church (142 Lincoln Rd.). The most needed items at the moment are cereal, pasta sauce, gluten-free items, and condiments.

For more information on the food pantry’s needs, see “My Turn: Neighbors helping neighbors via the SVdP food pantry in Lincoln” (Lincoln Squirrel, March 4, 2024) and the SVdP website.

Farrington Nature Linc events

Learn how to salsa dance
Thursday, March 7 at 8:30 p.m. — Havana Club (288 Green St., Cambridge)
Come learn how to salsa dance, or try out new moves, at Havana Club in Cambridge. Ticket sales benefit Farrington Nature Linc and include entry and an instructor-led lesson before everyone is free to dance the night away. Click here to purchase.

Natural Dye Workshop
Saturday, March 9 at 1 p.m.— Farrington Nature Linc (291 Cambridge Turnpike, Lincoln)
Explore the world of natural color with an introduction to dyeing fabric with plants. You’ll create your own set of four dyed cotton napkins using plants, including some foraged at Nature Linc over the summer. Different surface techniques will be explored, including creating resists on fabric with natural materials. Adults only. Pre-registration required.

Gentile seeks summer intern

State Rep. Carmine Gentile’s office is looking for a summer intern. He encourages candidates from towns represented within the district, which includes Sudbury, Lincoln, Concord, Wayland, and Marlborough. If you or someone you know is an interested student, please click here for details and email Gentile’s legislative aide Ravi Simon at ravi.simon@mahouse.gov.

Lyceum on the pursuit of beauty

The Walden Woods Project will present “A Virtual Lyceum: The Pursuit of Beauty” on Wednesday, March 20 from 7–8:30 p.m. via Zoom. During Henry David Thoreau’s era of increasing industrialization and mercantilism, poets and artists were accused of idling away in unproductivity. Likewise, in today’s seminar rooms and art galleries, to focus on the beauty of a novel or painting is often seen as detracting from art’s political and ethical potential. How can we negotiate between these tensions, especially during this era of increasing political and environmental catastrophe? When is the pursuit of beauty crucial to moral engagement, as Thoreau argues, and when is it a distraction from it? This lyceum event brings together an interdisciplinary group of artists, scientists, and scholars to ask where they stand on the purpose and pursuit of beauty in the 21st century. Click here to learn more and register.

According to NASA, turf grass lawn covers more of the U.S. than any other irrigated crop. Lawns are resource-heavy, requiring mowing, irrigation, fertilizer, and pesticides to thrive in New England. Learn why you should “kill your lawn” and how to replace it with beautiful and environmentally friendly gardens. Transitioning your yard to incorporate native plants in the lawn or gardens helps to mitigate floods, heat waves, sea level rise, and the mass extinction of species.

This free session will be presented by Mark Richardson, Director of Horticulture for New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill. and is sponsored by MetroWest Climate Solutions (a growing partnership between First Parish in Wayland, First Parish Church in Weston, First Parish in Lincoln, the Congregational Church in Weston, Energize Wayland, Sustainable Weston Action Group, and other communities and individuals). To register, visit metrowestclimatesolutions.org.

Talk on “killing your lawn” to save ecosystem

According to NASA, turf grass lawn covers more of the U.S. than any other irrigated crop. Lawns are resource-heavy, requiring mowing, irrigation, fertilizer, and pesticides to thrive in New England. Learn why you should “kill your lawn” and how to replace it with beautiful and environmentally friendly gardens. Transitioning your yard to incorporate native plants in the lawn or gardens helps to mitigate floods, heat waves, sea level rise, and the mass extinction of species.

This free session will be presented by Mark Richardson, Director of Horticulture for New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill. and is sponsored by MetroWest Climate Solutions (a growing partnership between First Parish in Wayland, First Parish Church in Weston, First Parish in Lincoln, the Congregational Church in Weston, Energize Wayland, Sustainable Weston Action Group, and other communities and individuals). To register, visit metrowestclimatesolutions.org.

Comments invited on planned work at Minuteman NHP

The National Park Service (NPS) is proposing to permanently remove the boardwalk, overlook structure, and close the trail accessing the vernal pool in Minute Man National Historical Park in Lincoln. The NPS is proposing a Categorical Exclusion under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for this proposed action and is providing a 30-day public comment period that will be open until Wednesday, March 21. Comments on the proposed action must be submitted online through this NPS Planning, Environment, and Public Comment web page or via U.S. mail to Minute Man National Historical Park, ATTN: Vernal Pool Trail Public Comment, 174 Liberty St., Concord, MA 01742.

News acorns

“Talking with Your Kids About Current Events”

The First Parish in Lincoln continues its “Conversations on Tap” series at the Tack Room with Rev. Nate Klug in “Talking with Your Kids About Current Events” on Monday, March 4 at 7:30 p.m. Open to all spiritual backgrounds and towns. This year especially, with war in Ukraine and the Middle East and a national election upcoming, we may feel overwhelmed in thinking about how to approach current events with our children.

Lincoln and Sudbury school concerts this week

The All Towns Concerts with students from the Lincoln School, Curtis Middle School, and Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School takes place on Monday through Wednesday, March 4–6 at 7 p.m. in the Kirschner Auditorium at L-S. Admission is free.

  • Monday, March 4 — Band concert. Each school will perform individually and then combine together for Armory, a composition by Randall Standridge. 
  • Tuesday, March 5 — Orchestra concert with Lincoln and Sudbury middle school students. The L-S Orchestra will perform “Waltz No. 2” by Shostakovich and a movement of “Symphony No. 8 by Dvorak,” and the L-S Select Orchestra will perform “Romanian Folk Dances” by Bela Bartok.
  • Wednesday, March 6 — Choir concert. Each Middle School will perform two pieces. The program includes l-S chamber singers performing a French madrigal and a jazz vocal arrangement of “Georgia on my Mind,” concert choir with sopranos and altos on a Taylor Swift medley, and tenors and basses on “I’m Just Ken” from the Barbie movie, as well as performances by the Musigals, Coro de Chicas and Singing Valentines quartets.

The concerts will be broadcast on Comcast channels 9 and 1074, and Verizon channels 32 and 2130 and will be available as on video on demand a few days after the concert. For more information about supporting L-S music, visit www.lsfom.org.

LOMA features Rob Siegel

Rob Siegel

Folk singer/guitarist Rob Siegel is the featured performer at the next Lincoln Open Mic Night on Tuesday, March 12 from 7–10 p.m. in the Lincoln Public Library’s Tarbell Room. Come listen or sign up for a slot to play yourself by emailing Rich Eilbert at loma3re@gmail.com or signing up at the event. Names of those who are signed up by 7 p.m. will be drawn at random.

Prepare for the coming eclipse

Prepare for the April 8 solar eclipse with Kelly Beatty, senior editor at Sky & Telescope, at a session on Saturday, March 16 from 1–2:30 p.m. in the Lincoln Public Library’s Tarbell Room. After the presentation, weather permitting, we’ll go outside to learn how to safely view the eclipse. Bring your own telescope, binoculars, or handheld solar viewer for a quick check as to function and suitability.

Council on Aging & Human Services activities

All events take place in Bemis Hall on Fridays at 12:30 p.m.

March 8 — Suicide and Aging: Fact or Fiction?
Samaritans will provide information on suicide risk factors, warning signs, and questions to ask someone who may be at risk. This two-hour suicide prevention training focuses on older adults, but the information is relevant for all ages. Space is limited. Call 781-259-811 to sign up.

March 15 — Irish Music in America
John Clark’s multimedia presentation features a treasure trove of music including “Danny Boy” and “Tura Lura Lura” that came with the influx of Irish immigrants. Co-sponsored by the Friends of Lincoln Council on Aging & Friends of Lincoln Library.

March 22 — “King Lear”
Join us for a free live theater show where actors Stephen Collins and Poornima Kirby portray a haunting, darkly funny adaptation of Shakespeare’s timeless story of love, ambition, and mortality. This one-hour show draws directly from Shakespeare’s text while adding modern twists. Co-sponsored by Friends of Lincoln Council on Aging and Friends of Lincoln Library.

Film: “A Coffee in Berlin”

The Lincoln Library Film Society presents “A Coffee in Berlin” (2012, unrated) on Thursday, March 21 at 6 p.m. in the library’s Tarbell Room. The film portrays a day in the life of Niko, a twenty-something college dropout going nowhere fast. Niko lives for the moment as he drifts through the streets of Berlin, curiously observing everyone around him and oblivious to his growing status as an outsider.

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 told the planning board that they shouldn’t “sell” the zoning changes at the March 2024 town meeting.

Our Planning Board and Housing Choice Act Working Group have worked diligently to develop sensible zoning changes in line with the Housing Choice Act. They listened to all community members feed back and incorporated many of the residents’ suggestions into the zoning guidelines. And we should all be delighted that the planning board made some very last-minute changes (after checking with the state and our town lawyer) that may allow for including 15% affordable housing.

And lest we forget, they were working from the results of the 2023 December Special Town Meeting in which Option C received the most votes. This is how our town democracy works — we listen, we learn, we vote, and we respect the results of the election.

So it is deeply troubling to me that two members of the Planning Board “do not believe that the vote at the December Special Town Meeting should be taken as a legal act.” Since when does Lincoln have a Town Meeting and vote and then elected town officials decide that it is “not the right time” and advocate to negate people’s vote?

We will all have a chance to vote again soon at the March 23 Town Meeting. My hope is that Option C passes. I believe that Lincoln is a wonderful, welcoming and generous town and that we will embrace the opportunity to be a part of the solution to Massachusetts’ housing crisis. I hope we can build inviting, all-electric, multifamily housing close to our train and town center where people can walk and bike to our schools and shops and churches as well as Codman and Drumlin Farms and our multitude of trails. And I will always respect the results of the election, even if my choice does not prevail.

“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.

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 (down from the previous 47), with one- and two-bedroom units of 708 to 1,261 square feet as well as two studios at 513 and 536 square feet as sketched out by Union Architects (see below). Ten percent of the rental units would be designated as affordable. The bank building and the Something Special building would be demolished and rebuilt while the Donelan’s and the post office/restaurant building remain untouched in this phase.

To accommodate Donelan’s, the main parking lot won’t be disrupted during construction. Twisted Tree could operate out of a food truck and other tenants might be able to use temporary trailers or take advantage of phased construction, said RLF Executive Director Geoff McGean.

As in the past, residents at the meeting worried about the town losing control of what gets built on the property if it’s eventually sold to a developer. Current plans call for the RLF to offer a ground lease. “I think we would have a lot of say [in lease terms controlling what can be built] and I don’t say that lightly — that would be critical,” McGean said. Also critical: passage of the HCA rezoning measure at Town Meeting so the RLF can start working with designers, lenders, town officials and others.

“From our perspective, we’ve got a really long process ahead of us and we need to get going,” McGean said. “There isn’t a crisis today, but we feel there will be.”

The presentation also included a history of the mall and sketches of parking and traffic circulation, as well as the two design concepts (traditional and modern) for the buildings that were shown in January. There are no plans for an underground or above-ground parking structure, McGean said. There also won’t be a traffic study until we have “much more of a definitive plan,” he added.

Click images below for larger versions with captions.

mall-floor1
mall-floor2
mall-floor3
mall-parking

Fire heavily damages Old Concord Road home

The damaged house at 14 Old Concord Road looking east toward the Lindentree Farm barn (left).

A fire cause by high winds heavily damaged a home on Old Concord Road in the early-morning hours of February 29.

Neighbors saw fire shooting through the roof of 14 Old Concord Road and called the Fire Department, which responded with Engine 2 and Ladder 1 and was assisted by firefighters from Concord, Wayland, Weston, and Hanscom Air Force Base. No injuries were reported. No one was in the house, which has been unoccupied for some time.

The fire started when a large tree came down over power lines due to high wins and causing a power surge to the house, Fire Chief Brian Young said. The fire was also found to have a “significant head start” due to a lack of working smoke detectors within the home, he added.

The house, which is located behind the Lindentree Farm barn on a separate parcel, is owned by Heather McCune, according to town land records. The one-story flat-roof cinderblock home was built around 1950 and is assessed at just $103,000, though the 2.9-acre parcel is assessed for $943,900.

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 about the HCA, so the wording has been altered slightly. In general, feedback received by town officials has shifted over time and is currently split between a preference for concentrating affordable housing at the mall (especially once the state allowed housing in mixed-use subdistricts to count toward a town’s required total) vs. spreading it around town.

In the summer 2023 public forums and the State of the Town Meeting in October, participants favored the first option (C), but since then, a number of residents have argued in favor of the second direction, and many specific rezoning options have been floated along the way. “Feedback” obviously refers to residents who have spoken publicly on the issue, but the overall actual sentiment of voters won’t be known until March 23.

HCAWG’s work and the feedback it has received was also summarized by Select Board member Jennifer Glass at the start of that meeting. Her remarks were included in the notes area under slides 3-5 but were cut off in the meeting’s slide deck with notes posted to the HCAWG website, but they can be found here, and this link has been added to the February 28 article.

Final bylaw includes adjustments for affordability and commercial use

The multifamily and mixed-use overlay zoning map approved by the Planning Board. Click to enlarge.

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 was because the state would not allow Lincoln to specify its usual 15% minimum unless the town could show in a feasibility study (which it was not able to do) that that higher ratio would be economically viable.

But the board turned around the burden of proof. Section 12.9.3.2 of the final bylaw now says that 15% will be required unless the state Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities determines in writing that it is not feasible, and then 10% will be required. “This will allow the town to pursue the 15% with EOHLC without having to go back to Town Meeting to change the bylaw to 15%,” Director of Planning and Land Use Paula Vaughn MacKenzie explained on February 29.

Commercial space

Section 12.9.2.3 (part a.10) still says that a minimum of 33% of the gross floor area of all buildings on the lot must be dedicated to commercial use and that the Planning Board may reduce the required percentage of commercial uses by Special Permit “upon a finding that economic and market conditions do not support the required amount of commercial space.”

However, the board added this to the paragraph:

“To support such a finding, the applicant must provide documentation of significant periods of vacancy or non-payment of rent, demonstrate reasonable efforts of marketing such space, and present a report by a qualified independent real estate marketing consultant. The Town may also conduct its own third-party assessment paid for by the applicant pursuant to MGL, c. 44 s. 53G.”

The amended bylaw will go before voters at he March 23 Annal Town Meeting.

My Turn: Don’t post signs in front of other people’s houses

By Mark Robidoux

This office has received multiple questions and concerns from residents that signs are being installed on the town-owned easement in front of private residences without the resident’s permission or town permission.

As a friendly reminder, 16.4 of the local zoning ordinance states signs on town-owned property need approval from the Select Board and a permit from the Building Inspector.

You are welcome to install political signs on your own property or at the following intersections: Sandy Pond and Lincoln Road, Ballfield Road and Lincoln Road, Lincoln Poad and South Great Road, Bedford Road and Morningside Lane, and Codman Road and Concord Road.

Thanks in advance for your cooperation on this very important matter. Please reach out to me with any questions or concerns on the sign bylaw.

Sincerely,

Mark Robidoux, Building Commissioner/Zoning Enforcement Officer
781-259-2613, robidouxm@lincolntown.org

“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.

Draft of HCA design guidelines released

Editor’s note: This article was amended on February 29 to include a link to remarks accompanying some of the slides.

New buildings that go up in the future HCA subdistricts will have to adhere to design guidelines presented as a draft at a February 27 community forum.

The slide decks from the forum (one with notes and one without) recap the feedback received by the Housing Choice Act Working Group — feedback that has shifted over time between a preference for concentrating affordable housing at the mall vs. spreading it around town — plus resulting changes that HCAWG and the Planning Board made, and answers to some questions. (Remarks by Select Board and Housing Choice Act Working Group member Jennifer Glass in some of the slides in the deck without notes are truncated but can be accessed here.)

The guidelines beginning on page 8 of the two slide decks aim to “ensure new buildings are in keeping with the scale and character appropriate for a village center and support the high quality of design and connection to the outdoors that Lincoln values.” The slides include pictures of various types of building designs that would be acceptable and lay out guidelines with an emphasis on:

  • Open space
  • Front setbacks
  • Enhancing connectivity through sidewalks and paths
  • Minimizing the visual impact of parking
  • Thoughtful landscaping with native and drought-tolerant plants whenever possible

The required site plan review for each project will continue to include minimizing impact on trees as well as imposing controls on storm water management, lighting, and hardscape. Building guidelines also call for articulated facades and use of half stories and stepbacks to break up massing. All new developments should include accessible public space such as restaurant seating, public gathering space, and street furniture.

For mixed-use buildings:

  • Sidewalks and outdoor space adjacent to buildings should be designed to accommodate outdoor seating and gathering areas that complement the commercial space within the building.
  • Front setback areas should be designed either as a public visual amenity or accessible public space.

Other guidelines in the draft:

  • Public directional signage should follow current town signage design
  • Outdoor displays must be approved by the Planning Board
  • Bicycle racks are required
  • Sustainability is required through the town’s Specialized Stretch Code and Ten Town Pilot Program.
Upcoming meetings:
  • Rural Land Foundation forum outlining latest thoughts about redevelopment of the mall via Zoom — Thursday, Feb. 29 at 7 p.m.
  • Town Meeting preview forum on Housing Choice Act — Thursday, March 14 from 7–8:30 p.m. (details TBA)
  • Planning Board meeting to review and approve design guidelines to submit to Town Meeting — Tuesday, March 19 at 7 p.m. (Zoom only)
  • Annual Town Meeting — Saturday, March 23 starting at 9:30 a.m. in Donaldson Auditorium