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

Clarification and amplification

Several readers have posted comments and emailed the Lincoln Squirrel about the November 29 Lincoln Squirrel article headlined “Option E is not viable, HCA consultant says” to complain that it was biased. A better word choice for the headline would have been that Option E is not “compliant.”

The reason Utile gave for deeming Option E noncompliant was because its south Lewis Street subdistrict is smaller than 5 acres and is not contiguous with the rest of the Lincoln Road subdistrict. Some commenters (including but not limited to members of the Lincoln Residents for Housing Alternatives) noted that they had submitted a new option that includes 2 Lewis St., saying this now makes the option acceptable to the state. 

“After sending our initial option to the Selects and the HCAWG, the Lincoln Residents for Housing Alternatives (LRHA) requested that the HCAWG notify us if they or Utile noticed discrepancies so we could correct them before we issued a public version,” LHRA member Benjamin Shiller said in an email to the Squirrel at 6:20 p.m. on November 30. “Instead, the HCAWG received Utile’s advice and immediately published the comment that Option E was not compliant due to this easily remedied issue. This project is extremely detailed and small discrepancies, like those uncovered by the LRHA in the HCAWG submission to the town, can be corrected once they are pointed out.”  

It’s unclear when the LHRA officially submitted its amended Option 3. The Lincoln Squirrel was unaware of that development at the time the article was written, since it was not brought up at the Zoom session held shortly before publication.

LRHA also notes that the Housing Choice Act Working Group amended its own four options after it submitted Option C to the state for a preliminary compliance check, due in part to issues pointed out by the LRHA. HCAWG delves into the details of wetlands, open space, units per acre, and modeled unit capacity numbers in the “2023 11 30 – Deeper Dive into Calculations” update at the top of the HCAWG web page. In a November 30 email to LincolnTalk, Shiller said there are still problems with the state model and the HCAWG options that could allow much more development than intended, as he explains in these two videos (short and long versions).

This is an unusual story where complicated details are changing sometimes several times a day in a flurry of activity leading up to an important town-wide vote. The Lincoln Squirrel has amended the headline in the November 29 article but stands by its reporting as being accurate at the moment the described events took place. 

News acorns

Flashlight candy cane hunt postponed for a week

Due to the predicted evening rain for Friday, Dec. 1, the Parks & Recreation Department is moving the free Flashlight Candy Cane Hunt at Pierce Park to Friday, Dec. 8 from 6–7 p.m. 

Bake sale and COA&HS gift bag drive at Town Meeting

The Lincoln Girl Scouts will hold a bake sale with coffee and treats right before the Special Town Meeting on Saturday, Dec. 2 at 9:30 a.m. (voter check-in starts at 8:30 a.m.). They’ll also be collecting donations for the Council on Aging & Human Services holiday gift bag program — consider bringing a donation to town meeting. Click here for a list of needed items.

Shop for the holidays at LSF online book fair

Purchase books for your family, friends, and teachers at Lincoln Public Schools at the Lincoln School Foundation’s first online book fair fundraiser. Twenty-five percent of all sales before before Monday, Dec. 11 go to the LSF to fund innovative teaching grants (after that date, 15% of any books purchased still go to LSF.) Check out Bookfair.org’s pre-curated staff picks and award-winning book lists organized by grade, or search by subject and reading level. On the LSF book fair website, you can also find your school’s grade or specialist wish list. Wishlist purchases will be anonymous to the teachers; any books purchased (including those from wish lists) will ship directly to you. Then simply drop them off in the appropriately labeled bin in your school’s front lobby. Questions? Email bookfair@lincolnschoolfoundation.org

Coming up at the Council on Aging & Human Services

“Under Milk Wood”
Friday, Dec. 8 at 12:30 p.m. (Bemis Hall)
This staged reading of Dylan Thomas’s 1943 radio play, “Under Milk Wood,” is a celebration of life in a small Welsh fishing village, at once moving, hilariously funny, sometimes bawdy and always wildly poetic.  Cast members include Lincoln residents Mary Crowe, Ben Dubrovsky, and Sally Kindleberger. Wordsmove Theater graciously donated their time to the community and this show is free to all.

A Gathering of Celtic & Christmas Music
Friday, Dec. 15 at 12:30 p.m. (Bemis Hall)
Come enjoy the magical sounds of Celtic instruments coupled with vocals. Musician Jeff Snow‘s knowledge of his Scottish heritage create a delightful program of traditional and original songs. Sponsored by Friends of Council on Aging & Friends of the Lincoln Library.

My Turn: Thoughts on a community center

By Craig Donaldson

On Saturday, a key vote will determine the future course of the proposal to build a town community center. As I have considered our best course over the last year, the answers to several key questions have gradually become clearer:

Does the town have sufficient resources now to support current and future program needs? 

The Council on Aging and Human Services (COA&HS), Parks and Recreation Department (PRD) and Lincoln Extended-Day Activities Program (LEAP) are three stakeholders among a virtual beehive of social, educational, and cultural activities sponsored by town government and local organizations. A mixture of core staff and large numbers of volunteers provides the leadership and energy to make these three programs available.

Though possibly skewed by recent experience with the pandemic and my perspective as a participant in COA activities and service on the Friends of the COA board, it appears that matching these programs to current resources and venues increasingly taxes the ingenuity and patience of all, despite exercising our Yankee virtue of “making do.” In upcoming years, any increase in number and scope of programs will be stymied without improved accommodations. Though any particular program’s value must be judged in the eye of the beholder, there are likely valuable programs which have failed or were never started for lack of suitable venue or facility.

Is it necessary to build a new building now to meet current and future needs?

Concern that stakeholder programming was being inadequately served by our existing facilities resulted in funding for further study this year. The Community Center Building Committee (CCBC) and consultant ICON Architecture have appraised currently available venues as part of their charge. Early indications suggest that remodeling and renovation of existing spaces to enhance parking, access, and necessary amenities would cost significantly more than building a new facility.

Meanwhile, the experience with resources such as Bemis Hall, Pierce House, Town Hall, and our schools and churches suggests that ongoing programming will entail continuation of familiar stresses, with additional strain should programming expand. Investing in new space would add a central venue, up to modern code with parking, internet interconnectivity and facility to host a wide array of activities for all ages, interests and needs. Concern that the existing venues will lie fallow after a new building is opened appears unfounded, given crowding in some town facilities and likely gradual growth of town services and programs.  

Would an alternative site to the Hartwell campus be preferable now?

The charge to CCBC and ICON from the Special Town Meeting in fall 2022 was to provide three alternative cost points for a community center at the Hartwell site on the school campus. Some proponents of the community center concept have reasonably suggested that the new facility be located in the commercial center at the train station, given a projected increase in population density there as the state mandate for additional housing takes shape.

As discussions have evolved, however, it is clear that the needs of all three stakeholder programs will be best served by space at Hartwell, interfacing LEAP with the school, PRD with outdoor and gym facilities and COA&HS with all. The path to an expanded commercial and housing center has yet to be clearly mapped and its realization appears remote, particularly considering community center stakeholder needs which many feel have been evident and growing for years.

How can we afford the cost of a community center now?

The cost of a new building is certainly an important concern, especially as we now face the fresh burden of debt for the new school. As many have urged, we must be clear about the difference between what we need and what we want. The CCBC and ICON have created plans for a center at three different cost points to allow careful choice of the best fit for our needs and means as a town and as taxpayers. Whichever option is chosen for further design, it should feature a core structure which would enable efficient adaptation and enhancement in future years should needs dictate and means allow. It is clear that costs will only be higher as time goes by — an important reality urging us to reach decisive action soon.

How can we assure the best choice for the town?

The CCBC has taken on the task of leading the process through these issues, working with ICON on behalf of the town to solicit input from townspeople as well as keeping us informed of the issues and options at hand. Discussion and voting at Saturday’s Town Meeting will result in a choice for the town to pursue in detail prior to a final vote on funding in March. Throughout, constructive participation with civility, compromise, and good faith has been prominently displayed on behalf of reaching the current crossroads for the town.

Exercise your civic enfranchisement by joining the festivities on Saturday!

“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 C vs. Option E

By Benjamin Shiller

After spending a lot of time thinking about the various options for the Housing Choice Act, I have become very concerned about potential consequences of having too much growth too quickly. I thought the most concentrated housing option, Option C, might be manageable at the stated increase in units — 454, or about a 20% increase in Lincoln (excluding Hanscom) housing units. However, digging deeper, I learned that the increase could be much higher than stated, raising serious concerns about unintended consequences. The reason for the severe underestimate is the inclusion of properties with substantial wetlands and town-owned lands. The state compliance model heavily discounts such properties, excessively so, raising the concern that the actual number of additional units may be more than twice as high.

I have created this video, explaining this in more detail, which I hope you might consider viewing. 

There are plenty of ways to do more than our part to alleviate the local housing shortage without jeopardizing our town. We could try to choose parcels more selectively to avoid a surprise. For example, we could choose parcels that are privately owned and which do not contain wetlands. 

There really doesn’t seem to be any rationale for including public lands, as they do not count at all towards compliance. For example, it has been claimed that the DPW needs to be included for contiguity, because the road counts as public lands rather than “public ways” which are to be exempted from contiguity. However, even if you think roads on municipal land do not count as “public ways,” which seems contrary to how Massachusetts defines a public way, one could change it to a municipal road with the stroke of a pen, then drop the DPW from Option C.  

Ryan Estate poses a bigger issue, but one that can be solved with a little creative thinking. Ryan Estate is probably needed for contiguity for options where the majority of the acres surround the mall. However, Ryan Estate could be assigned to its own subdistrict with much lower density, eliminating the risk of surprises. Option E does this.

I close with a question. Proponents of Option C have repeatedly claimed that development would take place slowly over time. If that is the case, then what is the harm of selecting a less risky option, like Option E, along with the mall redevelopment, which together would increase housing units (yes, new housing) across Lincoln by about 15%? This would already be a very large change especially since it is all concentrated in one area. We could do that, then see if substantial rapid development causes any issues. If it does not, then we could do additional rezoning to increase housing units further, and avoid the HCA limitation of 10% affordable units. I have difficulty seeing why all of our housing expansion has to occur right now under the Housing Choice Act.

Benjamin Shiller is a member of Lincoln Residents for Alternative Housing.

“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 C is best for the mall and the town

By the Rural Land Foundation Board of Directors

As the December 2 Town Meeting approaches, we thought it would be helpful to briefly remind you of who we are, why we think our preliminary proposal to redevelop the mall with by-right mixed-use zoning is in the best interest of Lincoln, and our current thinking of the HCA options.

The RLF and its mission

The Rural Land Foundation (RLF) is a nonprofit land conservation organization whose central mission, along with our sister organization the Lincoln Land Conservation Trust (LLCT), is to help protect the rural character of Lincoln. The RLF board, made up of 17 Lincoln residents and its three Lincoln resident staff members, all care deeply about this town.

While our primary goal is to help the town conserve land through acquisition, creative planning, and limited development, we also own and operate the mall for the benefit of Lincoln residents. Proceeds from operating the mall fund our land conservation activities in Lincoln. Through the years, RLF’s creative model has helped us work with the town to conserve more than 2,500 acres of land and create over 80 miles of interconnected trails. Whether it is protecting most of the 100+acre Wheeler Farm back in the early 1960s with a limited development model, or more recently, conserving much of the Wang property and providing an opportunity for the town to create a much-needed athletic field, our goals and commitment are to help the town meet its needs and preserve its rural character.

RLF’s preferred option

At the December 2 Special Town Meeting, the town is asking Lincoln residents to vote on a preferred zoning warrant article that meets the requirements of the Housing Choice Act (HCA). Four of the zoning options (C, D1, D2, and D3) allow the town to take credit for the mall rezoning towards the total number of units the state requires for Lincoln to comply with the HCA. We think all four of these particular options make sense for the town to take credit for housing units zoned at the mall. It is our belief that Option C creates the best opportunity to:

  • Create new multifamily housing near public transportation
  • Provide economically diverse housing options and create affordable housing that may actually be built
  • Help the mall’s valued tenants in an otherwise struggling retail environment
  • Minimize climate change impacts

We see this as an exciting opportunity to work with town residents and officials to revitalize our small commercial area and create a sustainable and vibrant town center. For any potential redevelopment that is considered at the mall, we are committed to help the town ensure a commercial-based town center for the long term.

Why by-right zoning is best for redeveloping the mall

We are asking for the by-right mixed-use zoning for the mall vs. the Town Meeting process because we believe it:

  • Provides the most financial flexibility
  • Creates site planning clarity for RLF and a future developer
  • Allows the mall to be on the same competitive playing field for developers as other HCA by-right zoned areas within Lincoln and surrounding towns
  • Is more likely to attract essential outside capital for much-needed reinvestment in the mall
  • Still preserves our commercial center and is more likely to create a vibrant and sustainable town center
Public process

RLF is fully committed to a public process that, in addition to Planning Board site plan review, includes numerous feedback sessions with town residents and many other opportunities to let us know what you like and what you don’t like. Our last redevelopment project at the mall in the early 2000s, where we saved the post office and Donelan’s from leaving, involved a process that included Town Meeting and nearly seven years of listening and public feedback, much of which we tried to incorporate. The uncertainty, cost, and length of that process almost resulted in the project not coming to fruition.

We know many residents are very concerned about the future of the commercial center and we appreciate that interest. The RLF board and staff have worked hard over the years to maintain a commercial center for Lincoln and we hope to ensure a vibrant and sustainable center for the future. It is our belief that a well-thought-out “Lincoln-scale” redevelopment project will help our valued tenants at the mall continue to thrive. However, ultimately, Lincoln residents control the future of our commercial center by either shopping there and using the services or not.

Trust and support

As we have done for decades with our conservation projects, we are respectfully asking you for your trust and support. RLF has a track record across decades of being a thoughtful steward for the town. We are asking the citizens of Lincoln to trust our organization to do what’s best for the community at the mall, consistent with our nonprofit mission, and we seek more flexibility in achieving these goals. We want to continue to partner with the town to improve its socioeconomic diversity while maintaining its rural character, thriving agriculture and open space for enjoyment by all.

P.S. We know that there have been a lot of specific questions about the project and RLF. We will continue to try to answer those questions through the FAQs on our website and the HCAWG website.

RLF board members are Michelle Barnes (chair), Susan Allen (vice chair), Kenneth Bassett, William G. Constable, Daniel England, Andy Falender, Andrew Gnazzo (vice treasurer), James Henderson, Weston Howland III, Diana Jong, Gwyneth Loud, Robert Mason, Ellen Meadors (treasurer), Paul Shorb, Nancy Soulette (secretary), Andrew Stevenson, and Susan Welsh.

“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: Mothers Out Front endorse Option C

By the Mothers Out Front Lincoln leadership team

Lincoln’s Mothers Out Front leadership team enthusiastically endorses HCA Option C.

We believe that transit-friendly housing is a climate solution. By increasing housing density near public transportation and within the town center, Lincoln will be part of the solution to both the regional housing crisis and climate. In Lincoln and statewide, we feel that housing, climate, quality of life, diversity, inclusion, and a thriving economy are all critically important community issues.

We therefore support enacting zoning changes that comply with both the law and spirit of the MBTA Communities Act. We vigorously encourage construction of additional housing at the mall and near Lincoln’s train station. Option C is the only plan that does not increase density near or in the expanding Hanscom airport and Lincoln’s one environmental justice community.

We encourage the town to continue advancing a broad program of climate mitigation, environmental justice, and resilience strategies through our 2023 Climate Action Plan, including sustainable building practices, ecological landscaping around new development, and minimizing carbon emissions.

We extend our sincere appreciation to our Select Board, the Housing Choice Act Working Group, town staff, and all who have worked towards developing these zoning options.

We wholeheartedly hope you will join us on Saturday and Vote for Option C.

Lincoln’s Mothers Out Front leadership team members are Emily Haslett, Staci Montori, Rachel Neurath, Trish O’Hagan, and Candace Pearson.

“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: Lincoln, the HCA, and what lies ahead

By Barbara Peskin

This morning, I walked my dog at Harrington (a.k.a. Stonybrook) and saw an “E is Exclusionary” yard sign in the parking lot. I support Option E over C, not to be exclusionary, but because while it allows for significant HCA development in the Lincoln Station area, Option E doesn’t earmark all 39 parcels.

HCA developments will not create communities like the Lincoln Woods apartments; instead, construction will be three- and four-story high-end condo buildings. Option E also keeps wildlife and habitat around Codman Farm and gardens and along Codman Road less vulnerable. The map here compares the Option C and E parcel plans.

(Click image to enlarge)

I compiled the parcel list and map at right to show which parcels are in Option E that are also in Option C. 2 Lewis St. was recently added to Option E. Once an HCA bylaw passes, development on HCA parcels can happen quickly, with only Planning Board site plan review.

Because Option C puts all 39 parcels into play for quick process development, a scenario like this could result:

  • January 2, 2025 — Developer 1 begins construction of a 20-unit, three-story condo building at 152-154 Lincoln Rd. February 1, 2025. Developer 2 begins construction of a 30-unit condo building at 146/148 Lincoln Road.
  • February 1, 2025 — Concurrently, Developer 3 begins construction of a 40-unit three-story condo building at 90 Codman Rd. and 26 units at 78 Codman Rd. When, how, and at what pace each of the 9 Codman Rd. parcels would be developed is unknown. HCA rezones for future development without a specific proposal in hand. We rezone any named HCA parcel for future by right development at any time. You can imagine the concern that has been expressed by some Codman Road residents who were not contacted prior to Option C and do not support the rezoning of their single home district. Some of us who often walk or bike ride Codman Road and cherish its habitat are concerned about the clear-cutting and impact on wildlife as well.
  • March 1, 2025 — Developer 4 starts building at the mall and Doherty’s. They buy all six village center 25-units-per-acre parcels to build 170 units with multiple condo buildings plus some retail. They call the condo buildings next to Codman Farm and garden “Lincoln Gardens.”
  • May 1, 2025 — Developer 5 closes a Codman/Lincoln/Lewis corner deal to purchase seven parcels: 72 and 74 Codman Rd., 168 Lincoln Rd., and four parcels on Lewis Street to build a 75-unit development on seven acres.

So far, in this scenario, 19 parcels would be redeveloped with three- to four-story condos and over 330 units, and we still have 20 more parcels to go. With Option C, we could have 19, 28 or even 39 different developers and projects all under construction at the same time.

Compare this to Option E, which has 14 parcels in the Lincoln Station area. The Select Board has said that if Option E is our choice on December 2, a parallel proposal to develop the mall will also be on the March Town Meeting warrant.

So Option E will result in significant redevelopment, yet leaves some of the other 25 Lincoln Station area parcels available for affordable housing development done at a pace we can anticipate and plan. The color coded map above shows the overlap of Option E with Option C.

Additional thoughts
  • The state wants to know a town’s HCA districts by December 31, 2024.
  • The Lincoln Select Board has decided that the town should vote on Lincoln’s HCA final solution at the March 2024 Town Meeting.
  • The Select Board/HCAWG’s Options C and Ds include a village district (Doherty’s, mall, and four town-owned parcels) that would mix commercial with residential use. Since “mixed-use” isn’t strictly housing, and HCA is about housing, the state asks to review any “mixed-use” potential HCA district three months ahead of time.
  • The three-month lead time specifically for mixed-use districts, along with Lincoln’s self-imposed March 2024 deadline instead of the state imposed December 2024 deadline, is what is pushing our option preliminary vote to the December 2, 2023 meeting.
  • Option E does not include a mixed-use district and so does not require this additional lead time. If Option E is the choice of the town, we do not have to rush the decision.
  • There is open-source software to model solutions. Lincoln Residents for Alternative Housing has modeled over 15 solutions, including Option E now on the December 2 slate of options.
  • Our existing Lincoln zoned multifamily housing like Battle Road Farm and Lincoln Woods apartments have far more affordable housing than HCA guidelines require of developers.

Barbara Peskin is a member of Lincoln Residents for Alternative Housing.

“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.

Lincoln Squirrel poll results are in

The Lincoln Squirrel ran three polls this week to gauge which community center and HCA zoning options residents preferred and if they supported allowing The Commons to build more units. All three issues will be subject to votes at the Special Town Meeting on December 2. The polls, which closed at 8 p.m. on November 29, were open to both Squirrel subscribers and nonsubscribers. With the caveat that the polls were  not alt all scientific, here are the results:

Which community center option do you prefer?

Do you support allowing The Commons to build another 28 independent living units and associated parking?

Which HCA-related rezoning option do you prefer?

Option E is not compliant, HCA consultant says

The Lincoln Residents for Housing Alternatives map of part of Option E for HCA rezoning. Not shown: the Battle Road Farm portion of the subdistrict.

(Editor’s note: the headline to this story was amended on November 30. See this clarification for details.)

Utile, the town’s planning consultant for Housing Choice Act rezoning, said this week that Option E would not pass muster with the state because it does not meet the law’s requirements.

With Utile’s help over the last eight months, the Housing Choice Act Working Group came up with four options for Lincoln to comply (Options C, D1, D2, and D3), all of which include the mall. But Lincoln Residents for Housing Alternatives (LRHA) argued against including the mall and proposed Option E, which they say gives the town more control over the mall’s future by excluding it from HCA rezoning while also minimizing new housing in the village area and its resulting congestion. Option E will join HCAWG’s four on the ballot at Saturday’s Special Town Meeting.

The HCA requires towns including Lincoln to allow 635 units of multifamily housing over at least 42 total acres, which can be broken into portions or subdistricts under certain conditions. One of those conditions, according to the state’s Section 3A guidelines (Chapter 5, Section a, Part ii), is that “no portion of the district that is less than 5 contiguous acres [of] land will count toward the minimum size requirement.”

“In the professional opinion of our consultant, E does not appear to be compliant because the south Lewis Street subdistrict is smaller than 5 acres and is not contiguous with the rest of the Lincoln Road subdistrict,” Select Board member Jennifer Glass wrote in LincolnTalk on the afternoon of Wednesday, Nov. 29. That verbiage is also on the HCAWG website.

Option E straddles the south side of the railroad tracks but does not include the parcels between the track and Lewis Street. Lincoln Road (though no actual parcels of land) connects the two pieces.

Also on Wednesday, HCAWG also posted updated maps and tables for its four options, which are slightly different from previous versions. “There are changes in the unit/acre calculations because our consultant, Utile, worked with the state to refine calculations when there are significant wetlands involved,” the group wrote. “The allowed units/acre will be written into the zoning bylaws and is a maximum, regardless of the size of the units.”

The new slide deck also includes maps showing the likelihood of housing development in each subdistrict based on its current status. Option E has the largest amount acreage of allowed multifamily housing in parts of town other than the village area and thus the lowest amount that is likely to be developed.

LRHA meeting draws more than 170

The LRHA held a heavily attended Zoom meeting (video here) on Wednesday evening to review all five options, make the case for option E, and answer questions, which viewers could post using Zoom’s chat function (though not verbally). The typed questions were visible to the meeting hosts but not the audience, and the hosts acknowledged that they couldn’t get to all of them in the 90-minute session. Utile’s analysis of option E from earlier in the day did not come up.

After the meeting, the LRHA wrote on LincolnTalk that they are “are parceling out the remaining questions to the presenters best equipped to answer them. We’ll post those questions and answers as soon as we can collate them.”

One of the questions that came up again at the session was why the town was putting the HCA options to a vote now when the state deadline for enactment isn’t until December 2024. “If the state sees we’re working in good faith on a solution, I’m sure the roof doesn’t cave in on Jan. 1, 2025,” said Bob Domnitz, a former member of HCAWG and the Planning Board.

Town officials have said they’ll need the extra time in case the March 2024 vote doesn’t result in a bylaw acceptable to the state, which has not given any indication either way about whether it might be flexible about the deadline.

Option E going forward

Utile’s opinion notwithstanding, Option E will still be on the ballot on December 2, and whatever option voters choose that day will also be submitted for a compliance check. However, if they vote for option E and the state rejects that plan after review early next year, it will not be on the warrant in March. In that case, “the working group and the Planning Board would have to go back through a public process again” to fix the problems to bring the option into compliance, Glass said at the November 27 Select Board meeting.

Town officials have already submitted Option C to the state for a compliance check, though they don’t expect a state reply much before the final vote at Town Meeting in March.

Officials have also said that if Option E prevails, the town will offer a separate article at the Annual Town Meeting in March asking voters to rezone the mall to allow a mixed use of commercial and multifamily housing.

Town Administrator Tim Higgins noted at the November 27 Select Board meeting that the commuter lot, even though it’s part of the town’s HCA rezoning, cannot be sold or leased for development without Town Meeting approval because it is town-owned land. He also reiterated that recent executive sessions of the Select Board concerning a piece of property are not about the commuter lot and that “there is no specific proposal in the works that’s currently under negotiation.”

Millicent “Penny” Mitchell, 1940–2023

Penny Mitchell

Millicent Irmiger “Penny” Mitchell, 83, of Lincoln, passed away on November 14, 2023 at the Commons in Lincoln.

Penny was born on February 3, 1940, daughter of the late Donald K. Irmiger, Sr., and Helen Irmiger Murray. She was raised in Green Bay, Wisc. and attended Skidmore College before graduating from Lawrence University, earning a bachelor’s degree in English. She worked in advertising for Jordan Marsh and later became a homemaker and mother.

Penny went on to marry Richard L. Mitchell. Together, they loved to sail and race their boat, ski, and travel. They were also passionate gardeners — they loved to spend hours working in their beautiful gardens. Penny also enjoyed photography and captured their many travels and memories. In between, they cherished time spent with family and their eight grandchildren.

Penny was predeceased by her husband Richard in 1999 and her brother, Donald Irmiger, Jr. She is survived by daughter Amy Lyon, sister Gretchen Morrison and husband Robert, and brother Chadwick Irmiger and wife Kathryn. She is also survived by her stepchildren, Edward Mitchell (Judith), Christie DiPietro (David), Margaret Prevot (Roger), and eight grandchildren, whom she loved dearly and was thrilled to spend time with.

Services will be held privately. Penny will be laid to rest beside her late husband Richard in Waterville Valley, N.H. In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be made to the Progeria Research Foundation, PO Box 3453, Peabody, MA 01961-3453.

Arrangements are entrusted to Dee Funeral Home & Cremation Service of Concord. To make an entry in her online guestbook, please click here.