My Take on Planning Board Meeting on December 12, 2023

By Laurie Gray
Originally Posted on Lincoln Talk 12/13/23, Posted here with permission of the author

In full disclosure, I was an Option E supporter.  I support development at the Mall and want town residents to have input into the process.  I listened to the Planning Board meeting Tuesday night.  If Option C is voted in by the town in March, the Planning Board bylaws are the way the town has input.  Unsurprisingly, the process of creating the guidelines is confusing.  Several times, it was mentioned that the mall is a small space and we can't have it all.  Some worry that if we ask for too much, we won't get any development at all.  Creating the guidelines feels a little bit like guessing/working backwards.  I have been wondering: In as much as the RLF has been working with a specific developer (Civico), and the Planning Board is writing bylaws in response to these plans, what would happen if anything were to fall through between the RLF and Civico? Would the bylaws be just as attractive to other potential developers? From a practical standpoint, it seems easier to have an actual plan to look at, rather than imagining a future plan.  I could be wrong on specifics but these were the discussion points that I took home:

• Commercial space will be less than 33%, but an exact number was not agreed upon.

• A 4-story building(s) is definitely being considered.  Not everyone agreed.  Some wanted the town to have more input on whether there should be a 4th story.  Others wanted to use a 4th story as a "carrot" to get more affordable housing (although there was disagreement on the percentage); as in, a developer could apply for a special permit (decided by the Planning Board, I believe) to make a 4th story if more affordable housing were included.

Additional questions:

• Parking is going to be an issue.  Will there be enough parking for commercial customers and residents?  The first floor of new buildings might be parking, since parking likely cannot go underground.

• Space is a major issue.  It is hard to understand how everything is going to fit in.  During the meeting it felt like we needed a calculator and a miniature model of all the things we need to try to fit in.  Is that what an architect does?  (This is me editorializing—but it is hard for me to see how Donelan's is going to fit it.)

2 Other Important Points

• There were several comments about making all future meetings hybrid and recorded.  There is a lot of important work to be done over the next 2 months.  This seems like a no-brainer.

• A resident from Lincoln Woods commented how much of an impact this would have on Lincoln Woods residents because of how little space there is.  A tall building would be very close to their buildings.  I think we should take this comment very seriously.  I know we want to welcome new residents who want to live in multifamily housing, but we also have to support and listen to our current residents of multifamily housing.