Hi, Lincoln Talkers – I'm writing as a private citizen, one who lives in
Lincoln Woods and whose backyard shares a fence with the out-of-town commuter
rail lot. I am a landscape architect, and tend to see built form and open space
around built form as readable expressions of a homeowner's -- or a community's
-- values. Everyone I have spoken to in Lincoln appreciates the need for more
housing here (and not just single-family homes on 2-acre lots). I don't know
anyone who doesn't acknowledge that need. My take on the HCA issues facing
Lincoln: 1) I believe the RLF parcel rezoning should be decoupled from the HCA
effort. The Mall area is important central enough that its rezoning and
redevelopment should be subject to a more rigorous vetting than it's currently
getting. I may have missed something crucial, but I haven't found in Town
documents any siting standards that address development in Lincoln's biggest
retail/commercial zone. It makes sense to define, at a minimum, building siting
parameters (distance between building mass and rights of way) disposition of
stone walls and mature trees, building height setbacks, dumpster locations, car
storage/parking limits and accommodation, etc.) as well as realistic projected
impacts on the town (traffic management, infrastructure amendments, etc.)
before any developer is given an option to build by-right there. 2) The Town
might be best served by slowing down the HCA compliance process as much as
possible, and rethinking its approach to the public process. So many people
have asked good questions about the rezoning; it's good to see that the boards
involved are now recognizing that the public process presents a wonderful
opportunity to develop even better zoning options. In a town where brainpower
is practically an energy source, it makes sense to harness it! (In the late
90s, after protests about a cookie-cutter redesign of Cambridge's Fresh Pond
Reservation landscape, the City of Cambridge enlisted citizens from all sectors
of the City to develop a text master plan for the whole reservation. The
Committee was given the charge to reach consensus on a huge range of issues --
and remarkably, it did. The process required a lot of thought, time, and the
assumption of good will by all parties. The City used the Committee's 2000
Master Plan report to guide all subsequent design and construction throughout
Fresh Pond Reservation, Cambridge's largest and arguably most successful public
open space. That process, and its result convinced me that patient and
civic-minded consensus-building really works.) We are all stakeholders in the
HCA zoning effort. A citizens' advisory committee that draws together pertinent
Lincoln officials with Lincolnites from every part of town could reflect
Lincoln's best consensus thinking, and result in a rezoning option that more
fully reflects the Town's values and character. I do appreciate all the work
that has gone into solving the HCA puzzle so far, and I'm looking forward to
the November 8 community forums. See you there -- Deb Howe Sent from iCloud
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