Planning Board shifts tourist brochure online, advances accessory apartment framework

LINCOLN — August 9, 2022 — Lincoln Planning Board takes tourist brochure online and advances accessory apartment framework. With no printing budget available, members agreed Tuesday to publish the 250th-anniversary brochure as a three-page PDF with clickable links and a QR code, possibly displayed at the Minute Man National Historical Park visitor center. Planning Director Paula walked the board through a draft framework that would raise the maximum accessory apartment size from 1,200 to 1,500 square feet and keep apartments inside a principal dwelling allowed by right; detached units would still need a Zoning Board of Appeals special permit. Co-Chair Lynn DeLisi pushed for a larger setback than the current 20 feet, while Co-Chair Gary Taylor argued the town should lead on housing: "We're trying to pursue an objective here of promoting additional housing where the limitations we have now are constraining." Taylor also reported the town, The Community Builders and the Rural Land Foundation have coalesced around a 40,000-gallons-per-day wastewater plant upgrade backed by a $400,000 state design grant, clearing the way for a roughly 40-unit RLF mixed-use proposal at the mall.