The current draft of the bylaws for the Village Center District is tailored to meet a developer’s (Civico) wishes rather than the Town’s general interest. A majority of the Planning Board has so far supported that approach. There is no reason to believe that the imbalance of power will change after Saturday. If options C-D are chosen, the Town would be forced to decide between approving a set of disagreeable Village Center bylaws or reject HCA rezoning altogether. It is obvious in that scenario we would be dosed with a heavy ration of “approve this or the State will sue us” like we have seen so far in public presentations from the HCAWG. HCA and Mall rezoning need not be coupled. Vote E to retain control. Vote E if you are unsure what is the best approach and you want more time to consider.
To recap, these are the concerning bylaws: - If the Mall is not developed under HCA, more than 10% affordable units could be required, as Lincoln has historically done. It gets even worse. There is a clause in the planned bylaws that would allow developers to skirt the 10% HCA affordable housing requirement by making a donation to the Town’s Affordable Housing Trust. No units would be reserved for households with an income lower than 80% of the median (~$120k for a family of four). - There are minimal requirements for commercial space. The requirements discussed could be easily gamed by a developer. The RLF Chair admitted at the Community Forum of Nov. 8 that commercial space would likely decrease. - Under HCA there is no possible requirement for commercial parking space. Residents could not be able to visit the Mall like they do today. - There are no floor area or lot coverage ratios. This means lots can be clear-cut to maximize build-out, increasing the amount of impervious surface and reducing tree-cover . - The draft bylaw discussed on the 20th allows a maximum 4 stories and height of 48' for buildings located 100 ft or more from the road. This is inconsistent with all public communications from the HCAWG, which set the limit at 3 stories and a height of 42’. - Most concerning of all, the Planning Board would reserve the right to provide height, story, and density variances through a special permit. This would essentially render moot the discussion the Town is expected to have regarding the District’s proper bylaws, including number of units. This is an unprecedented clause in Lincoln’s history. On Fri, Dec 1, 2023 at 02:27 RAandBOB <[email protected]> wrote: > Most house lots in town are zoned for by-right single-family housing. You > can’t build just any house on these lots, however. The building is governed > by side lot and front lot setbacks and by height, wetland and septic > restrictions, among others. > > Similarly, the new zoning for by right multi family housing/retail will > restrict the possibilities for buildings. The planning board is in the > process of developing new bylaws. Right now they disagree among themselves. > Their continuing discussions will be held in public, and also be guided by > input from the public through public hearings. Eventually, they will > propose new bylaws that will be voted up or down by the Town Meeting. This > is the process that will eventually limit what developers can build on > these new by-right zoned properties for multi-family/retail developments. > In this way, the Town will continue to have control over what is developed. > > Ruth Ann Hendrickson > (She, her, hers) > -- > 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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