[LincolnTalk] Don’t box out yourself, Lincoln.

2023-12-01 Thread David Cuetos
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

[LincolnTalk] Mall Rezoning idea

2023-11-30 Thread David Cuetos
be built" > on that site is a bit of a stretch at this point. > > Though if it is, I wouldn't mind downsizing to a nice west-facing > apartment with a view of Codman Farm one day. :-) > > John > > On Thu, Nov 30, 2023, 8:00 PM David Cuetos wrote: > >> I

Re: [LincolnTalk] District contiguity question

2023-11-30 Thread David Cuetos
I am going to attach the email I sent to the Director of Planning, Jennifer Glass and Utile a few days ago at the bottom. I don't think there is any ambiguity in the wording of the guidelines and believe option E as sent would be compliant. However, we do not want to get bogged down on this issue.

[LincolnTalk] The real reason we cannot require more affordable units under HCA zoning

2023-11-29 Thread David Cuetos
The State allows towns rezoning land that can be used towards HCA compliance to require developers to set aside 10% affordable units. In order to request a higher than 10% affordable quota, towns have to submit a feasibility study to the State. As per the guidelines

Re: [LincolnTalk] A recommended Sunday drive - fee in lieu of affordable housing

2023-11-28 Thread David Cuetos
ion, but I would argue it would be good practice for them to share their underlying conflict of interest when speaking publicly on this matter. David Cuetos On Tue, Nov 28, 2023 at 9:34 AM Sara Lupkas wrote: > "Open meeting discussions point to a lot of possible concessions to private &g

Re: [LincolnTalk] Housing Choice FAQs

2023-11-28 Thread David Cuetos
Massachusetts law dictates that "The assessors of each city and town shall determine the fair cash valuation of such real property for the purpose of taxation on the first day of January of each year." Best practice woul

Re: [LincolnTalk] Let’s use the HCA to create affordable housing in Lincoln

2023-11-17 Thread David Cuetos
It is a false choice to present the issue as one of compliance versus not. There are different ways of complying that do not require giving away the town to developers. Rezoning large swaths of prime area for HCA compliance equates to giving up on the town's longstanding mission of providing truly

[LincolnTalk] HCA Open Questions

2023-11-17 Thread David Cuetos
Attached are a new list of open questions submitted to the Selects we believe should be answered ahead of the vote on December 2nd to ensure residents can make an informed decision when asked to vote on a zoning proposal. HCA open questions Lincoln Residents for Housing Alternatives 11/17/2023

Re: [LincolnTalk] Housing Choice Act and Exclusionary Zoning Report-the HAC will make us even more exclusive.

2023-11-11 Thread David Cuetos
How can the RLF guarantee that any particular commercial space will remain once they sell the land to Civico? Are they planning to include a requirement for a supermarket in the deed? Anything else would just be a "recommendation". On Fri, Nov 10, 2023 at 6:09 PM Margo Fisher-Martin < margo.fisher

Re: [LincolnTalk] New Options for HCA Compliance

2023-11-07 Thread David Cuetos
Number of units likely to be developed is not a criterion the EOHLC will use to determine compliance for Lincoln or any other town. The proposals that I have, among others, presented will be deemed compliant by the State. I invite anyone who doubts my assertion to watch this exchange between an HC

Re: [LincolnTalk] Why Lincoln should overlay HCA zoning over existing multi-family districts

2023-11-06 Thread David Cuetos
arded message - >> From: Margaret Olson >> Date: Mon, Nov 6, 2023 at 15:50 >> Subject: Re: [LincolnTalk] Why Lincoln should overlay HCA zoning over >> existing multi-family districts >> To: Deborah Greenwald >> CC: David Cuetos , Lincoln Talk < >> linc

[LincolnTalk] Why Lincoln should overlay HCA zoning over existing multi-family districts

2023-11-05 Thread David Cuetos
on 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 West

[LincolnTalk] Open letter to HCA Working Group

2023-11-01 Thread David Cuetos
WG offered to meet with us in person to discuss. Thank you, David Cuetos Weston Rd Proposal examples [image: image.png] This is a map and the list of parcels included in the Lincoln Rd (reduced) district. While the district acreage is smaller, the developable acreage is

[LincolnTalk] Fwd: Potential grave inconsistency in the model submitted for State approval

2023-10-27 Thread David Cuetos
I believe the content of this request sent to members of the HCAWG to be in the general public interest. -- Forwarded message - From: David Cuetos Date: Fri, Oct 27, 2023 at 10:06 AM Subject: Re: Potential grave inconsistency in the model submitted for State approval To: Glass

[LincolnTalk] Inaccuracies in rezoning proposals submitted to the State

2023-10-26 Thread David Cuetos
of units and land in Lincoln Station, exactly matches the maximum number of units that could be built.* 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 subs

[LincolnTalk] HCA - tax implications

2023-10-10 Thread David Cuetos
I share the concerns expressed by other town residents regarding the impact of rezoning in every aspect of our lives: traffic, noise, water supply, affordability, etc. I thought this would be a good time to recirculate a pro-forma analysis of taxes I shared in the spring for existing town residents

[LincolnTalk] Impact of HCA zoning on the CC and the school

2023-10-02 Thread David Cuetos
would encourage everyone to reach out to the working group and the Selects and get their thoughts on what I am explaining here. I also once more, this time informally, petition the Working Group and the Selects to take the matter seriously and appoint an independent study group to look into these issues.

Re: [LincolnTalk] Community Center- size considerations

2023-10-02 Thread David Cuetos
llow our trail. High-performing schools are alive with extracurriculars. David Cuetos 145 Weston Rd On Sun, Oct 1, 2023 at 13:21 Sara Mattes wrote: > This is helpful-more specificity to better understand why some classrooms > appear used for only potions of the day, or even go empty. >

Re: [LincolnTalk] CCBC Community Comparisons

2023-09-21 Thread David Cuetos
Thank you for sending that comparison. I have a comment about Lincoln's population. At the Special Town meeting last year, the town's senior population was stated as 1,697 (see proof at the bottom of the email), quoted as 35% of an (ex-Hanscom) population of ~4,840. The source was the 2020 census

Re: [LincolnTalk] State Grants - Housing Choice Act Working Group update!

2023-09-18 Thread David Cuetos
fair to ask Lincoln to carry ten times the burden of other towns. David Cuetos 145 Weston Rd On Sun, Sep 17, 2023 at 8:08 PM Sara Mattes wrote: > … and since we already have gotten grants, do we more? > The septic system at the Mall is part of private property. > Why are we talking about

Re: [LincolnTalk] Last Night's Community Center Forum

2023-09-13 Thread David Cuetos
In my opinion, the proposals the CCBC is putting forward are flawed because the basic premises upon which the building has been dimensioned are greatly overstated. Multiple residents have brought this up, but the committee has not taken the feedback into consideration. To begin with, activity room

[LincolnTalk] Housing Choice Act - discussion of financial implications

2023-03-22 Thread David Cuetos
to provide their views on this matter and state what they see as their red lines (financial and non-financial) are with regards to HCA compliance.* If people have in-the-weeds questions about the model, I would prefer to address those via private email to spare everyone else (Andy Wang I am looki

[LincolnTalk] Communication with School Committee

2023-02-02 Thread David Cuetos
how do issues get addressed and how does the > public engage with the constraints that the school committee has on them. > I think it falls back that this is an elected body and the town selects > candidates that they think represent their views or have a platform of > communication to p

Re: [LincolnTalk] Lincoln School Projected Class Size

2023-02-01 Thread David Cuetos
erning our school can be debated.* Again, this would not be unprecedented. The CCBC conducted a similar exercise ahead of the Special Town Meeting. I want to thank everyone who has participated in this thread for taking time out of their busy lives to engage in a civic public debate. Best, Davi

Re: [LincolnTalk] Community center marriage of COA and Parks and Recreation

2022-11-30 Thread David Cuetos
point I am trying to make is that the school has a lot of space, tremendous facilities and existing after hours custodians during the week. With a little bit of planning, all those problems you faced can be sidestepped. David Cuetos On Wed, Nov 30, 2022 at 08:24 DJCP wrote: > My kids enjoy ple

Re: [LincolnTalk] Community Center - Financial Big Picture

2022-11-19 Thread David Cuetos
=sharing On Fri, Nov 18, 2022 at 6:07 PM David Cuetos wrote: > Andy, > > I thought we had already settled this population debate. As I explained to > you in my last email, I believe your population numbers are inaccurate. My > population numbers come from the US Census Bureau, s

Re: [LincolnTalk] Community Center - Financial Big Picture

2022-11-18 Thread David Cuetos
Andy, I thought we had already settled this population debate. As I explained to you in my last email, I believe your population numbers are inaccurate. My population numbers come from the US Census Bureau, specifically the Annual Community Survey. Here is the population number from Lincoln, incl