Hi, >From also being an attendee at that HCA meeting, the takeaway for me was that we DO need to look at the process. I appreciate all of the hard work of the committees and boards, but some thing is ineffective about the process, because all of the resident input collected was only based on a few hundred people total. This means that few people attended the SOTT meeting. Many do not check the Lincoln website and are not on the Lincoln Talk. I agree though- many of us need to step up and think and work constructively together. I do not blame the board members and again I appreciate the huge amount of work and time they’ve invested. I can understand after all of their hard work why they would want to push option C through, but I hope they/we can continue to creatively think of other options. There is still time before the December meeting. Also, the state is pushing this law to beef up ridership on the failing MBTA system- which will not happen unless the MBTA steps up the services they provide.
Respectfully, Cookie Martin On Thu, Oct 12, 2023 at 2:52 PM Robert Ahlert <[email protected]> wrote: > Airing grievances about the process and the unfairness of the law itself. > I do not think as a good strategy. > > On Thu, Oct 12, 2023 at 2:50 PM Susanna Szeto <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Follow the money and maybe we can find the reason! >> >> On Oct 11, 2023, at 9:20 PM, Cathy O'Brien <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >> >> >> >> This sounds like it is being “fast tracked” >> >> Very similar to “oriole landing” approval of their development I think it >> Was approved in 9 months- fastest development approval in Lincoln >> >> Common denominator- CIVICO >> >> In full disclosure I am the largest abutter to oriole landing >> >> But I truly believe there is shenanigans with some sort of secret >> relationship with in Lincoln >> >> NO development moves this fast in Lincoln >> >> >> Why is ONE developer been the SOLE company to be the finalist in the 2 >> largest housing increase in a small amount of time for such a small town… >> >> And if I recall… CIVICO was involved in building the school…. >> >> There is something not right about this…. >> >> >> Cathy obrien >> 3 Mary’s way >> >> >> On Wed, Oct 11, 2023 at 6:29 PM Karla Gravis <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >>> I encourage all those interested who were not able to attend to watch >>> the Q&A portion of the HCA meeting last night once it is uploaded. >>> >>> >>> - The committee spent a lot of time reviewing what has been >>> accomplished to date and discussing amongst themselves but little time >>> was >>> dedicated to public debate. Few of the public questions were actually >>> answered by the committee, at times the mic was just passed on to the >>> next >>> question without any response. This is similar to previous meetings, >>> where >>> there is little room for resident debate. In my opinion, the outreach has >>> been one-directional. The working group is composed only of people who >>> sit >>> on other boards, are town employees, or work for the RLF. There is no >>> opportunity for a regular resident or member-at-large to be part of the >>> decision-making. There are outstanding resident questions that the >>> committee hasn’t answered. >>> - The town legal counsel was present during the meeting. When asked >>> why the Committee was contradicting his counsel as stated on public >>> record, >>> he indicated that he had changed his mind on the enforceability of >>> compliance. He did not provide any facts to explain this reversal. He >>> said >>> that his new stance had come from a collaborative effort with his >>> partners. This was very surprising to hear, as this very same law firm is >>> defending the town of Holden, which has decided not to comply with the >>> HCA. >>> Our lawyer's partners at his firm, KP Law, wrote a motion to dismiss the >>> action against Holden. We should not be rushing to comply just because >>> “non-compliance is a risk” given our own lawyer's firm seems to be giving >>> other towns the opposite message to what they are telling us. There are >>> other towns like Weston which seem to be comfortable taking a >>> wait-and-see >>> approach. >>> - The committee repeated its claim that we will lose millions in >>> grant money by not complying. However, we have never received any money >>> from the grants named in the actual HCA legislation. When this was >>> brought >>> up, the committee did not respond. The committee claims we should comply >>> because we could use one of the grant programs to update the Village >>> Center >>> septic system to benefit a private developer. I struggle to understand >>> why >>> the town would need to fund this private enterprise. Wouldn’t we be >>> setting >>> a terrible precedent? >>> - The committee continues to quote a pandemic-era traffic study and >>> a flawed financial analysis to claim there is "no impact" to current >>> residents. The financial analysis used a cost per student of $6.3K, when >>> our school's cost per student is at least 4 times that. This >>> <https://www.doe.mass.edu/finance/statistics/per-pupil-exp.html> report >>> from the Department of Education puts LPS (excluding Hanscom) at $27K per >>> pupil. The town with the lowest cost per pupil in the state is at $13K, >>> nowhere close to the $6K. Using accurate numbers for that financial >>> analysis would imply steep tax increases for current Lincoln residents. >>> Let's remember that in this case, we are talking about apartments being >>> rented starting at $4K a month. >>> - I strongly believe in providing full transparency on the impact of >>> rezoning to the town. If there is a tax and traffic impact, we need to be >>> clear on it. The town may decide to take on these costs in the spirit of >>> increasing housing, but it should be up to each resident to decide that >>> for >>> themselves, after being provided an accurate cost/benefit analysis. >>> Residents have volunteered to conduct this analysis, but the committee >>> has >>> not taken them up on the offer, so far. >>> - There seems to be a reluctance from the committee to provide more >>> than one option for residents to vote on. There is another option that >>> would entail rezoning areas where condos are already extant and the >>> probability of redevelopment is much lower. The committee is very >>> reluctant >>> to follow this path. I am unclear as to why we do not want to present >>> more >>> than one option up to vote, when we do so for other big projects like the >>> school or the community center. >>> >>> Given such an important decision that may change the landscape of our >>> town for decades to come, we owe it to ourselves to look at these issues >>> more carefully. I struggle to understand why we are rushing to submit a >>> proposal to the state when we still have time before the deadline, other >>> towns are delaying and the guidelines could continue to change. The >>> proposal wouldn't even be increasing affordable housing materially. >>> >>> Karla Gravis >>> >>> Weston Rd >>> -- >>> The LincolnTalk mailing list. >>> To post, send mail to [email protected]. >>> Browse the archives at >>> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. >>> Change your subscription settings at >>> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. >> >> >>> >>> -- >> The LincolnTalk mailing list. >> To post, send mail to [email protected]. >> Browse the archives at >> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. >> Change your subscription settings at >> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. >> >> -- >> The LincolnTalk mailing list. >> To post, send mail to [email protected]. >> Browse the archives at >> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. >> Change your subscription settings at >> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. >> >> -- > The LincolnTalk mailing list. > To post, send mail to [email protected]. > Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/ > . > Change your subscription settings at > https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. > >
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