Planning Board recommends Todd Pond Road accessory apartment, plans state mandate response

LINCOLN — September 13, 2022 — Lincoln Planning Board endorses basement apartment, confronts 630-unit state zoning target. The board unanimously recommended a special permit for Nora Illary's 882-square-foot basement accessory apartment at 7 Todd Pond Road, well under the 1,200-square-foot cap on a two-acre lot. Most of the Sept. 13 meeting went to Planning Director Paula Vaughn-MacKenzie's walkthrough of the Aug. 10 DHCD guidelines implementing the MBTA Communities law, which require Lincoln to zone roughly 42 to 43 acres at 15 units per acre — a capacity of about 630 to 645 units — by Dec. 31, 2024, with an action plan due Jan. 31, 2023. Only 20 percent of that capacity must lie within a half-mile of the train station. Co-Chair Gary Taylor said Lincoln is being "treated like a rapid transit community even though we aren't," and is disputing whether Hanscom units count in the housing base. A joint session with the Select Board is set for Oct. 3.