The Town of Lakeville Community Preservation Committee opened a public hearing Feb. 20 to gather resident input on the town's draft Community Preservation Plan and to accept comments on priorities for use of Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds.

The committee's chair read the public notice, saying, "The Lakeville Community Preservation Committee pursuant to the Lakeville General Bylaws Community Preservation Committee Section 2 will conduct an informational hearing ... regarding the Lakeville Community Preservation Plan," and invited comments from residents.

Residents who spoke urged the committee to prioritize four items in the plan: securing waterfront access and water-based recreation opportunities at Long Pond, preserving and expanding trails and linkages, dedicating funds for open-space acquisitions where opportunit ies arise, and using CPA resources to preserve existing affordable housing rather than subsidize private market developments.

Davis, who identified himself with the town's open-space community, asked how the committee would handle time-sensitive land purchases. He said towns sometimes call a special town meeting when an acquisition appears off-cycle: "In order to do something like that, they make special exemptions for that, and then we would call a special town meeting just to vote on an acquisition of land." The committee confirmed special-town-meeting votes are a recognized mechanism to act outside the regular fall application cycle.

Several speakers raised Long Pond access and related flood-control goals. Kathleen Barrick, a committee member at large, noted residents' interest in acquiring land around Long Pond for public access and flood mitigation; committee members said such acquisitions could be eligible under the plan but would typically be pursued by the parks department or the open-space committee and then come to the CPC as a formal application.

On trails and open-space planning, committee members pointed listeners to a near-final open-space plan that will include maps and priority protection areas created with the Southeast Regional Planning and Economic Development organization (SRPEDD). One resident urged linking existing conserved parcels to create longer trail corridors; committee members said trail linkages are already an objective in the draft plan.

Affordable housing drew extensive public comment. The plan defines "community housing" to mean units for low- and moderate-income households (moderate <100% of HUD area median income; low <80% of AMI). Committee members said the town's CPA funds are often used to preserve deed-restricted units and to keep units on the State Housing Inventory (SHI) in perpetuity. Michelle (Planning Board representative) explained that CPA funds have been used previously to help preserve affordability but are not used to create private 40B projects; she and others said the committee can set plan language to avoid funding private-market 40B developments directly.

The committee also discussed budget math and the CPC's projected allocations. Members reviewed CPA set-asides: the law requires minimum set-asides of 10% for historic preservation, 10% for open space, and 10% for outdoor recreation (30% total), with the remainder available for any qualifying category. Administrative expenses were discussed: the plan currently proposes $8,325 for administration; the committee noted it can use up to 5% of receipts for administration but typically budgets a more conservative amount. Committee members explained that the local property-surcharge receipts generally rise about 2.5% annually while the state match fluctuates year to year.

Votes and routine business during the meeting included approval of a revised 2026 CPC budget article, approval of meeting minutes from Jan. 16, 2025, and motions to open and close the hearing. The committee closed the public hearing after hearing public comments and approved the revised budget article as presented.

The committee will incorporate the public input into plan revisions; members asked residents to submit formal applications in the fall if they want the CPC to consider specific projects. The CPC scheduled its next meeting for March 20 at 6:30 p.m. at the Lakeville Police Station.