1930-11-07-STM-MIN - Laserfiche WebLink

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443 purposes . Accordingly , another hearing was granted under dat €: of October 20th , pursuant to notice published in the Lexington Times -Minute -Man of October 3rd , and to some sixty additional notices sent by registered mail to property owners within the area designated by the Plan ing Board as prospectively affected by the further change , this last notice being upon the proposition to bring all the corner propert es into a business zone . jill Three citizens _il peared at this hearing and one property owner who lived in Lowell . Two of these opposed the proposed chanr; e and two , including the non- resident property owner , favc�.red it . No need of an additional business zone in this locality to accommodate general business was expressed by those appearing . Mr . Tholaas Kelly stated that he had had an opportunity to sell a plot of land on the easterly side of Bedford Street between his house and the railroad crossing for business and , when pressed for a statement as to the nature of the business said it was for a tea room . There are on the westerly side of Bedford. Street between the coal yard property and Valley Road several excellent residences ; on the easterly side there are two . The values of these as residential ) roper -Les would surely be depreciated if they we _ . e thrown into an addition to the business zone because of the likelihood of change of any one of thea froa a residential use to a business one . The e being no real demandfor business at that locality , we sound exect no change to a bus ' ness status that wouLd bring added values to the Town to offset the depreciated residential values . The Planning Board is opLlosed to any additions to 111 the business zones in the town until there Is a real demand therefor . If any considerable areas are thrown into business before such a need develops , nothing but a segre- g .atJad and sporadic development ( thin such business zones may be expected , and that kind of a development br : ngs no real values into The town from business and it kills the neighborhood for residenti : l purposes . In nearly every instance , however , where these £Jetitions for changes develop , it is found that in the background is the desire of some one . of the oil companies to acquire a site for a filling station, not so much for its im ;ediate value and profit as for what is conce ; ved to be of future value as the town develops . The Planning Board is not in sympathy with this sort of business . If t lei' e are already filling stations enough in our town - and we believe that this is substantially the fact , the Planning Board does not favor opening up additio al locations for filling stations alone in advance of the time when, if ever , they will be needed . If the zoning is once changed to admit any of these propertLes to business , they can at any time be changed from filling station uses to general uses . But these is already sufficient business area at the junction of Bedford Street and North hancock Street to accommodate all necessary business for many years to coact' , r and to permit additional areas on the opposite side of the street or in that locality to be opened to present or prospective business would be to injure the Town and its property va '. ues more than it could possibly benefit . It is ,stated that the presen3e of the coal yard destroys the value of any property fur resider_ti 'tl uses in that general locadty . The coal yard has been there for many years and many of the houses in that locality have been built since the coal yard was there established , wh ' ch would seem to disprove this point . 1 I I