Thank you David! We should take this letter to every district that is proposed by HCAWG! Susanna
> On Nov 5, 2023, at 10:01 PM, David Cuetos <davidcue...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > I have received some questions from residents trying to understand why our > HCA proposals overlay zoning over existing multi-family districts. I thought > the rationale was important enough to share it with the wider public. > > I believe the town would be better served by separating as much as possible > the zoning exercise required for compliance approval from actual development. > Zoning existing multifamily developments accomplishes that goal, as those > properties already have the characteristics we would like to see and they are > unlikely to be redeveloped. Let me explain the logic behind the separation. > > HCA compliance requires us to zone a certain number of acres to a certain > density by right. What that means is that as long as the developer does not > go past our height and setback bylaws, they do not need to ask the town for > feedback. This is not what historically happened in Lincoln. Historically > every multi-family development was a give and take between the developer and > the town. In that process the town was able to extract important concessions > like the number of affordable units, measures to reduce environmental impact, > etc. > > While that give and take was quite important, for areas rezoned under HCA the > town's influence is diminished even further as developers would get an > override over certain town bylaws the State considers too restrictive. Among > them two are chief: affordability and wetland setbacks. The state will only > allow us to ask a developer to include 10% affordable units. The town’s > bylaws require 15%, and historically the town has never approved anything > below 25%, including some units reserved for low income households. 25% is > also the lowest percentage of units for an entire development to count > towards 40B State requirements. The other requirement at odds is wetlands > setback. The town’s bylaws require 100’ and the State only gives us 50’. This > difference would be critical in some sensitive areas like Codman Rd. > > Our view is that it is detrimental to the town’s general interest to allow a > developer to build a large multifamily building without going through town > meeting approval. The success of Oriole Landing is testament to the > usefulness of town meeting: a win-win for the town and the developer. We have > actually learned from other towns like Winchester that we can drive a much > tougher bargain than we have done in the past. > > We see with skepticism claims that the Oriole Landing developer, who made an > estimated $12M profit and was able to get through town meeting in nine > months, does not want to go through town meeting again. Lincoln has > historically not been an obstructive town towards multi-family developers and > there is no reason to think that would change now that HCA has lowered Town > Meeting approval thresholds from 2/3 to just a simple majority. > > I ask all residents to consider that when they vote to rezone an area, they > are de facto abdicating their democratic right to influence future > development. > > David Cuetos > Weston Rd > -- > The LincolnTalk mailing list. > To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org. > 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 Lincoln@lincolntalk.org. Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. Change your subscription settings at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln.
