2000-06-12 Managing Growth Development and Open Space Working Group.pdf

Browse Search

are also hesitant to bike on such roads in our area as Taxes Pleasant Street,Watertown Street,Concord Ave and I am concerned that property taxes tax those(such as Waltham Street.Mass. Ave. is also fairly nerve- the old) who have large now valuable plots but small wracking. I would support A MAJOR houses and small incomes. If property tax could be INVESTMENT IN PROVIDING MANY MORE based more on the value of the house and less on the BIKE ROUTES,either in the form of new paths,or value of the land then(a) it would tax those who in the form of marked/protected bike lanes on major could afford it and(b) it would not tax those who arteries. contributed though their own land to the greenness of This would make a very good contribution to Lexington by their own property. relieving traffic congestion,and it would also improve the cardiovascular improvement Most of the homes in Lexington are under-assessed. opportunities and quality of life for many residents. Owners of new homes have relatively higher and probably more accurate assessments and are therefore Bicycling and Walking paying more than their fair share of real estate taxes. I am very much in favor of connecting the many bike paths and recreational areas so that you can get from Vehicular Traffic one to the other safely as a pedestrian or on self- I think most efforts on alternate means of powered wheels of any sort.Examples are: connect transportation are futile. the Vine Brook bike track(and all connected I am amazed at the amount of needless traffic conservation land)to the Minuteman commuter bike congestion(not to mention on-site safety hazards) path safely. caused each weekday morning and afternoon through Allow easy broad pedestrian access to Mass Ave the ritual of school drop-off and pickup. The most sidewalks from the commuter bike path without obvious opportunity I can think of to get a high- having to cross the parking lot.And so on. impact improvement in congestion for little effort is Pedestrians and cyclists need a continuous network, simply to require the use of buses by all families. both for travel and recreation. Even if this necessitates a return of bus costs to the • tax levy,it would be worth it for me even if I didn't Hanscom have kids in the schools. I was born and raised in Winthrop Mass.Do I need to And there may even be some legal way we can keep say any more? [This respondent ranked Hanscom as the fees separate from the tax levy and still make his/her#1 issue] them mandatory for parents to pay--but that's way out of my areas of expertise. Infrastructure My view is that Lexington is a mature developed A certain amount of congestion is essential to limit community without much growth potential. The issue traffic.For example,the lights at Waltham St/Mass I think is serious but nowhere addressed is the need Ave,and the intersection of Mass Ave/Pleasant St to provide for good ongoing maintenance of our [Wilson Farm] are two things which dissuade people infrastructure already in place(schools,roads, from coming into Lexington.They are essential municipal buildings,recreation facilities).The choke points. Straighten them out, and more traffic community needs to financially support the(less would flow though Lexington on its way to exciting than building something new)routine somewhere else. operating requirements. Walking Mansionization I like to walk and am able to do so comfortably. It should not be the role of town government to However,I think sidewalks belong on all streets dictate controls on mansionization.Let the market except residential dead ends in as developed town as decide within current town laws and restrictions, Lexington.We used to require sidewalks. I think the which are plenty and sufficient. town is remiss in not maintaining existing sidewalks and there should be more. Open Space I would support buying larger parcels of vacant space. A lot that lies within a residential neighborhood would not be a priority for me.The number of acres is not as important to me as the attributes of the land in question. • Managing Growth-29