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Schedule listings too On Wed, May 28, 2025, 11:12 AM Bob Mason <[email protected]> wrote: > Members of our community have lamented or inquired about the “secrecy” > surrounding the Nature Link conservation project. I would like to share my > perspective as a member of the RLF & LLCT board of directors and as one who > has been involved in complex land conservation projects across the > Commonwealth, primarily through The Trustees of Reservations. > > Of course, non-profit land conservation organizations like RLF/LLCT would > prefer having a wide-open and extended community engagement process before > a public project unveiling, but that is often not practical. As I am sure > you can sympathize, these projects can be inherently complex because of > many stakeholders who often have initially conflicting goals that must be > reconciled during confidential discussions. > > So most of the hard work in crafting land conservation projects happens in > private, to retain the privacy of the involved parties, until an agreement > can be reached and then presented to the public. The negotiations for these > conservation deals are often very tenuous, so there is not typically an > opportunity to share the various iterations and points of negotiation in > the public realm. > > Sometimes a project can take years, if not decades, of discussion to reach > a point of agreement, but then the transaction itself must happen quickly > with a rush of effort. There are brief moments of time when balance can be > found, and often financial pressure or other externalities makes folks > compromise. > > In this particular case, it's been a particularly challenging jigsaw > puzzle to match the interests of private landowners, institutions like > Farrington Memorial, and the City of Cambridge, who are willing to > significantly contribute to preserving water quality for their adjacent > reservoir. > > In Farrington’s case, they have expressed to the RLF a desire to increase > their financial resources, while still retaining a long-term home in > Lincoln. What’s equally important is a critical need to improve access for > their visitors. Regardless of any minor improvements that could be made > with their current driveway at the intersection of Route 2, they would > prefer not having school buses and others navigate that dangerous dynamic. > And hence, the linkage to the Panetta property— creating the opportunity > for a safe and secure entrance for their limited visitors. > > And to add to this complexity, it is in the RLF’s best judgement that we > must include housing redevelopment to make this project financially viable. > Portioning some land for development has been an innovative and effective > conservation strategy employed by the RLF for decades, including the > original formation of Lincoln Station, more recently the Birches School / > Wang Sports Field project, and other housing neighborhoods across the town. > This tactic provides much-needed capital to finance larger conservation > projects. Using this sort of financial tool requires additional > coordination, making sure that a developer finds the project financially > attractive while the RLF pays attention to the needs of the larger > community interests. > > In balancing these tensions, the RLF believes this project is in the best > interest of the town of Lincoln, permanently conserving one of the largest > land holdings while at the same time diversifying our housing stock. > > If you have questions and/or want to lend support, there are many > opportunities to learn at a variety of public forums: > > UPCOMING TOWN MEETINGS, with more info at www.Lincolntown.org > Thursday, May 29, 7:00 p.m. Community Preservation Committee > Monday, June 2, 6:00 p.m. Select Board > Tuesday, June 10, 7:00 a.m. Planning Board > Tuesday, June 17, 8:00 a.m. Housing Coalition > > FORUMS HOSTED BY RLF / LLCT, with more info at www.lincolnconservation.org > Tuesday, June 3, 7:00 p.m. Zoom > Wednesday, June 4, 12:00 p.m. Lincoln Public Library > > WE ARE ADDING MORE SO PLEASE check www.lincolnconservation.org for the > latest. If these don’t work for you, please reach out. > > And most importantly, remember to cast your vote for the Special Town > Meeting the evening of June 25th. > > Best regards, > Bob Mason > Old Concord Road > > -- > 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.
