To the Editor:
In the spirit of friendly debate, I would like to respond to the letter to the editor from the First Parish Committee. There are some aspects of the new Stearns Room/Office design that are commendable, most notably its improved accessibility. Also, the cramped spaces so troublesome in the existing building have been eliminated. However, the Planning Board decision to grant a waiver from the by-law must be based on need, and I question the need for the office space shown on the latest plan.
The administrative functions of the church are carried out at the Stone Church, and should remain there. It has been suggested that this office would be useful for sermon talkbacks after services on Sunday, and for pre-wedding preparations, but these uses need to be weighed against the importance of upholding the zoning that was voted at Town Meeting. If the Building Committee were to give up the idea of an office space and devote that square footage to the Stearns Room, the new building could be that much smaller, and the church would not need further setback waivers beyond the significant ones that have already been granted by the Planning Board—those that allow the church to build out to the same distance from the new lot lines that the existing Stearns Room did on the old lot. In this case, the Planning Board has already relaxed the by-law’s 75-foot setback requirement for educational and religious use in residential zones to approximately ten feet.
Further, the pure lines of the White Church are what set it apart from the other public buildings in the historic Town Center. The existing Stearns Room, by design, does nothing to detract from the Sanctuary’s inherent simplicity. That is not the case with the current design, which would be appropriate in almost any other setting, but not attached to a fine example of Greek Revival architecture that is flanked on either side by understated Greek Revival houses.
To paraphrase the First Parish Committee’s statement, many, many people who care deeply about the First Parish, our historic center, and our community of Lincoln have deep-felt concerns about this design, and we hope that as a community we can find a path to a respectful compromise.
Respectfully submitted,
Margaret Flint
Letters to the editor must be signed and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Letters may be edited for length, grammar/punctuation, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor.
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