Planning Board advances 5 percent cap on accessory apartments to public hearing

LINCOLN — February 9, 2021 — Lincoln Planning Board advances 5 percent accessory-apartment cap and hears South Lincoln traffic study. The board voted 5-0 to send a revised accessory apartment bylaw to public hearing, replacing the existing 10-year age-of-structure requirement with a cap allowing accessory apartments in up to 5 percent of the town's dwelling units, down from a 10 percent figure originally drafted. Lincoln currently has roughly 64 permitted accessory apartments against 2,130 dwelling units from the 2010 census, about 2.5 percent. "It's much easier to relax zoning than it is to tighten it up," member Bob said in arguing for the lower number. The board then heard Kirsten Braun of Ron Mueller and Associates present a South Lincoln traffic study tied to MAPC build-out scenarios of 240 to 271 new residential units; the Lincoln Road / Codman Road intersection already operates at level of service F southbound and could see southbound delays approach 399 seconds under 2030 full build-out. Water Commissioner Ruthann told the board accessory apartments will not require separate meters but will be billed a separate quarterly base charge of about $50.