Planning Board Elections and Addressing Your Questions: An Interview with Kunal Botla

Kunal Botla, the Town Meeting member for Precinct 4 and Chair of the town's Transportation Advisory Committee, is running for a seat on Lexington's Planning Board. A student at Tufts, he studies both architecture and planning, which inspired him to run for a seat.

The Planning Board proposes modifications to the town's zoning bylaw, and then reviews developments proposed under those bylaws, making sure proposed developments align with the town's goals and vision. Elections for two seats on the Board will take place on Monday, March 2nd.

I sat down with Botla for an interview last Monday and asked him a couple of questions pertaining to his goals, experience, and other hot-button issues such as Article 2. Below are excerpts from the interview, each addressing common questions people have.

Q: Why do you want to be part of the Planning Board? What are your main goals?

A: We're at a very unique moment right now. There is a major shortage of housing; there's a lot of housing being proposed in Lexington. We also have a goal of increasing economic development so that we're able to shift the tax burden from residents to businesses…We have to figure out how to bring businesses to Lexington so that we can prevent tax increases that make it more expensive to live in Lexington.

We also have an opportunity with the housing demand that exists now to encourage housing types that don't currently exist at Lexington. So, encouraging more opportunities for families to downsize after their kids move to college or move out and opportunities for younger people to rent in Lexington or buy a place like a studio or one-bedroom.

Q: How would you balance your role on the Planning Board with your life as a college student?

A: As a college student, you have a lot of flexibility in how you manage and prioritize things. As Chair [of the Transportation Advisory Committee], I'm managing both the weekly meetings, but also engaging with all the various stakeholders that exist in the town. That means attending Planning Board meetings, Select Board meetings, meetings of the Affordable Housing Trust, the MBTA board, the MassDOT Board of Directors, or meetings one-on-one with specific offices in those segments. There's a lot that's involved in any committee.

Q: How is your major related to what the Planning Board does?

A: Being able to read plans, sections, elevations, and all the technical drawings that come in a project application is incredibly powerful because you're able to see the project as it's documented and as it's proposed at its core form, as opposed to depending on renderings or descriptions.

Through understanding the case studies and examples of how planning has worked in Lexington and across the country, I'm able to think about the different resources and different opportunities that we have for commercial development…It's really helpful in terms of creating a longer term strategy for Lexington.

Q: How would you address concerns saying you're too young for this role?

A: I think I've proven myself in the roles that I've had so far…I'm also coming at things from the perspective of a lot of the people who left Lexington and gone off to college, who might want to come back but not have the opportunity…Having that different perspective is really helpful in any government body.

I've been able to work with a lot of the folks on the Select Board and even on the Planning Board right now, and I think I'll be able to continue that dynamic of finding productive solutions and being a voice at that table. The Planning Board is five members, so it's not that I will have entire control on what I'm proposing. I'll need a minimum of three other members to buy into it. That's part of the process.

Q: Can you describe some of your specific achievements as the current Chair of the Transportation Advisory Committee?

A: In 2023, we proposed a massive modification to the fare system. As opposed to costing hundreds of dollars a year to get an annual pass for Lexpress, we simplified the system to be a $2 fare and a $20 annual pass…We were focusing on getting as many people to use the service as possible, using that as a way of making revenue. We've seen a massive growth in ridership, and that growth is also increasing continuously.

I first got involved [with the Committee] when I was advocating for the MBTA against a proposal that would have cut service in Lexington, and I was advocating to actually increase service…Now we have up to 15 minute or better service from Lexington center to Alewife, which I think is a huge improvement. That's something that makes the service much more usable for folks who are commuting downtown, but it also supports the reverse commute for folks who are working in Lexington. That's really helped in terms of making sure that businesses can hire the staff that they need to hire.

While I've been Chair of the Committee, the Committee has been providing feedback to the Planning Board and the applicants of each of the multifamily developments that have been proposed in Lexington…We've also gotten a lot of the developments to agree to build bus shelters and pedestrian infrastructure, all kinds of things that will help folks who are taking public transit or walking to school.

Q: Article 2, which reduces multi-family housing development in Lexington, has been an important topic in these elections and was passed last March. What were your thoughts on Article 2?

A: I was one of few people who voted no. A huge part of that was that Article 2, on paper, reduced the amount of multifamily housing that would have been allowed under the bylaw, but it didn't consider the impacts of zoning freezes* enough. The state law essentially gives this option for landowners to freeze the zoning as it is. What we saw happening in the weeks before Article 2 was brought to the floor was that more and more large landowners were requesting zoning freezes. That speeds up the process, right? That encourages a developer who may have not been planning to develop a property to start moving forward in the process…and speeds up development.

A huge part of it is that these zoning freezes also take away the town's control in the future. If a property is subject to a zoning freeze, they are not subject to minor modifications in the zoning bylaw. So if Town Meeting wanted to change how something works, specifically this year or any of the coming eight years, the landowner would not be subject to it. I think that's a risky way of doing things, if we are losing control.

*EDITOR'S NOTE: Zoning freezes are exemptions that can be requested by landowners and developers to exempt land from certain changes in zoning for up to eight years, including from Article 2. These freezes were requested prior to Article 2 being passed.

Q: What is the first thing you would do as part of the Planning Board?

A: I think day one, we have to start working on things to improve communication. I'm the only candidate who's committed to hosting office hours consistently so that folks can reach me and ask questions.

You have to know what you're looking for if you're looking for information on development. I think if we're able to simplify the language and make it more clear how something is organized in the filing system, or if we can just make the zoning map easier to read and clearer to understand…it makes it clear what's being put on the table. Then for developers, it makes it clear what the town wants to see, so that they're not coming into the process flying.

Q: What has been the most rewarding thing about this campaign process?

A: You see very clearly the different stories and the different experiences that people have in Lexington, and you get a lot more from people directly. I think you understand more clearly the struggles and the concerns and the priorities that people have. It's also really rewarding being able to meet so many people who've benefited from Lexpress.

Q: Fill in the blank: "If you want __, you should vote for me." How would current residents in Lexington benefit from voting for you?

A: If you want someone who has a background in architecture and planning on the Planning Board, you should vote for me. If you're interested in long-range solutions thinking about both what the impacts are next year, but also 10 years and 20 years from now, you should vote for me.

There's a lot that having a technical background helps with. It's a huge thing in terms of making sure that what we do and propose as a board is what we see happen.

Q: Why make the switch to the Planning Board now?

A: My technical background is actually more in architecture than it is in transportation, but also because of the timeliness. We're at a moment where, especially with the high school project, we have to be very careful about our spending. I think making sure that we're doing the most to ensure we can minimize tax increases is huge.

I know a substantial portion of the Select Board and the Planning Board has said that they have these goals, but I think I bring a perspective that will actually be able to come up with a solution and a method to achieving a lot of these things that we haven't yet seen.

Q: Anything else you want to add?

A: The community of academics, of people in business and tech, has been a huge benefit for Lexington. If we price out much of that population, if we price out the professors who live in Lexington, we won't be a community of professors anymore. It's a really important thing to consider making sure that Lexington remains an option for the people who grew up in Lexington.

*Polls will be open from 7am to 8pm on Monday. Learn more about how to vote in the local election here.

by KATIE LIN

Views expressed above represent the opinion of the author and are not intended to represent Lexspects editorial staff or Lexington High School.