My Take on HCA Working Group Meeting on Feb 1, 2024
By Laurie Gray

The purpose of this meeting was to go over the presentation for the upcoming public forums and gather feedback from the working group as to how to make them most effective.  The first forum is 2/8 in person at Bemis Hall and will include small break-out groups.  The second meeting is virtual on 2/9.  

Working group members expressed concerns that the public needs to be educated on:

• Basic definitions (Frontage, MMU or mandatory mixed use, street activating, setbacks, etc). 

• ”Commitment to commercial space” at the mall.  Currently 33% of total square footage of the buildings at the mall are required to be commercial (definition does include gyms and common rooms for the residential buildings if the public can pay to use), but can be reduced by special permit.  The planning board wants the public to know what a special permit is and how it works.

• What the size of the buildings are going to look like/what the setbacks are going to look like.  People think it is going to be a large building looming over Lincoln Road.  They wondered if the pictures by the RLF actually make the building look bigger and wondered about other pictures.  The setback is not right up to the stone wall, but definitely closer to the stone wall.  One working group member suggested that we put up stakes at the mall site where the setback would be. (My aside--the stakes are a good idea and I wonder if we can go 1 step further and put up some (temporary) helium balloons to see the height)

• The difference between a “Plan” and “zoning.”  People want to see the actual plan for the mall, but that is not what zoning is–it is a set of rules but not an actual plan.  There was some discussion about whether RLF will present at this meeting.  Some people thought that if the RLF did present then all the focus would be on that presentation and not on the zoning.  RLF members stated that people wanted to see the plans but they have to understand that the plans are evolving.  They do not want to show a plan that may not be viable.  They also think it is hard to present plans for the future, as that will also likely evolve.

• Diagrams from Utile (that have been shown at the planning board meetings) will be used to illustrate a possible build-out in the “3A district” that includes Codman Road.  The pictures are not actual plans, and lots could be combined to look different.  One working group member wanted it to be labeled “zoning constraints” to emphasize that it is not a plan while another thought the word “possible” was more accurate.  (My 2 cents:  “zoning constraints” sounds like a maximum build, but Utile’s diagrams are not illustrative of a maximum build. Lots can be combined and look very different, more parking could be made, and units could be larger–there is no constraint on unit size--could be 800 square feet, or 3000 sq feet per each unit. Also, developments could include gyms, clubhouses, pools, etc. as long as it fits on 50% of the lot).