Planning Board approves T-Mobile tower equipment swap at 30 Lewis St.

LINCOLN — December 10, 2024 — Lincoln Planning Board grants T-Mobile eight-year permit and sets dark-skies bylaw on a February track. The board on Dec. 10 approved a special permit and eligible facilities request for T-Mobile to swap antennas and ground cabinets on the existing 119-foot tower at 30 Lewis Street, trimming the standard 10-year term to eight after the carrier was roughly two years late submitting a required radio frequency analysis. A T-Mobile representative, Garrett, said construction is targeted for "end of January-ish" after the 20-day appeal period. The board then spent most of the meeting on a dark-skies bylaw the subcommittee, including member Margaret Olson, is drafting for Annual Town Meeting, citing a Commons at Lincoln retrofit where existing 175-watt, 14,000-lumen metal halide fixtures would be replaced with 3,000 Kelvin units at roughly 2,400 lumens — though the subcommittee will push for 2,700 Kelvin or below. Town Planner Jennifer Burney set a Jan. 28 working meeting and a Feb. 25 public-hearing deadline. The board also postponed an ADU draft after the state released guidelines Dec. 6.