Planning Board hears Rural Land Foundation pitch for Farrington-Panetta conservation deal

LINCOLN -- April 29, 2025, Lincoln Planning Board hears $6.4 million Farrington-Panetta conservation and housing pitch ahead of June Town Meeting. Rural Land Foundation Executive Director Jeff McGeehan presented a proposal to permanently conserve 77 acres and build 20 clustered single-family homes, 17 starter cottages averaging 1,850 square feet, three of them income-restricted, plus three roughly 4,500-square-foot homes, at a June 25 Special Town Meeting. Funding includes $800,000 from Cambridge, $950,000 in CPA funds, and $1.35 million in private fundraising, with $500,000 already pledged. Co-Chairs Lynn DeLisi and Gary Taylor pressed on why not multifamily; McGeehan cited the 40Y program's single-family limit, a 90-bedroom Title 5 septic cap, and landowner refusal. "This gets done now or it doesn't get done," McGeehan said. A site visit and May 27 return are scheduled before the June 10 public hearing.