Lexington Select Board unanimously backs MBTA zoning overhaul ahead of special town meeting

LEXINGTON — March 17, 2025 — Lexington Select Board unanimously supports MBTA zoning overhaul but splits four ways on a last-minute amendment to preserve the Center Business District's residential zoning. Meeting March 17 in advance of Special Town Meeting 2025-1, the four-member board present voted four to zero to back Article 2, which would reduce the geographic scope and density limits of multifamily zoning established under a sweeping 2023 bylaw change. Chair Doug Lucente declared himself a firm no on the amendment that would keep the Center District's 52-foot, four-story residential allowance intact, saying the community faces a fiduciary reckoning from the volume of projects already in the pipeline: "We missed the mark as a community on what the expectation was." Vice Chair Jill Hay voted yes on the amendment; members Joseph Pato and Vanita Kumar listed themselves as waits pending town meeting debate. Absent member Mark Sandin, whose written statement was read into the record, also indicated a wait on the amendment. The board separately approved six new LED streetlights for Walnut Street and recorded majority support for a slate of capital appropriation articles headed to the 2025 Annual Town Meeting.