We are NOT being asked to vote on bylaws. The HCA is a set of guidelines and we are being asked to vote for one of 5 zoning options that conform (or perhaps don't confirm in one case) to said guidelines. We've been told repeatedly that bylaws are to follow and we will vote for one fully developed plan (or not) in March
I find this continued obfuscation and distraction really frustrating and hard to hear as anything but an attempt to disrupt the process. John On Fri, Dec 1, 2023, 4:02 PM Karla Gravis <[email protected]> wrote: > I am not suggesting that we bring multiple by-laws for approval at the > March town meeting. > > Tomorrow we are asking residents to express a preference for a set of > bylaws through ranked choice voting, The preferred option would then be > presented for approval in March. Options C and D as being voted on tomorrow > are incomplete because we do not have answers to these questions: > > - Building heights/stories > - PB having override prower through special permits > - Commercial space requirements > - Allowance of fees in lieu of affordable units > > If HCA zoning is "exactly zoning by laws" why are we voting under > incomplete assumptions? > > > > On Fri, Dec 1, 2023 at 3:42 PM Margaret Olson <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> Town Counsel has advised us that we should not bring multiple potential >> zoning by-laws to town meeting. The state regulates how zoning changes are >> handled. >> >> A zoning article at town meeting is a straight yes/no vote on a very >> specific set of changes. We can not have any sort of multiple choice vote >> as we can for a "sense of the town" vote. So if we were to bring the zoning >> by-law changes for all five options to town meeting we would have five >> warrant articles. In what order should they appear? If the first one passes >> do we go on and vote on the others? As a voter who supports the HCA but >> doesn't like the variant that comes first in the warrant what should you >> do? Vote no, holding out for your preferred option, or do you vote yes to >> ensure we do comply? If all five are on the warrant what happens >> if multiple options pass? >> >> Margaret >> >> >> >> On Fri, Dec 1, 2023 at 2:59 PM Karla Gravis <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >>> Given that, according the Chair of the Planning Board: >>> >>> 1. "*Compliance with the HCA is "exactly zoning by laws*" >>> 2. "Z*oning by-laws are the implementation of HCA compliance*" >>> 3. These by-laws are not ready >>> >>> Then, why are we voting tomorrow? >>> >>> To emphasize how rushed this process has been, significant changes to >>> the densities across options C and Ds were communicated on Wednesday >>> evening (without any public meetings). >>> >>> The areas where the Planning Board hasn't agreed on the bylaws are: >>> building heights/stories, giving the PB special permit powers to change >>> densities and heights/stories, parking and allowing fees in lieu of >>> affordable units. These are all critical questions as we evaluate the >>> different options. How are we expected to discuss the merits of these >>> options without a full understanding of those issues? >>> >>> LRHA has a stance on these open questions. Option E has a set of >>> setbacks, height/story limits and floor area ratios for every district. We >>> are distinctly opposed to providing variances to all of those items, as >>> well as units per acre, through a Planning Board special permit. >>> >>> >>> >>> On Fri, Dec 1, 2023 at 2:38 PM Margaret Olson < >>> [email protected]> wrote: >>> >>>> Compliance with the HCA is *exactly* zoning by laws. The zoning >>>> by-laws are the implementation of HCA compliance. There is no way to comply >>>> with the HCA without voting to amend the zoning by-laws. >>>> >>>> If the town votes down the proposed zoning by-laws in March, and the >>>> sense of the town is that we want to comply but the planning board >>>> presented an unacceptable set of regulations, then the planning board will >>>> go back to work and try again at a special town meeting at a later date. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>>> >>>>> -- > 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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