1957-07-22 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

7-22-57 were encouraged by the interest shown and the vote taken at the public hearing since the zoning provi- ' sions were being heard for the first time and since opponents, and not always proponents, generally attend such hearings. He also said that they felt they were alone in presenting their point of view, would not want to do so at a town meeting, but that if a citi- zen's group would assist in doing this, they would consider the matter differently. Mr. Gummere further stated that they felt they had gone far enough and were not justified in spending more money on the pro- posal unless more people showed interest in and were in favor of the project. He said that since the public hearing various letters and telephone calls had indicated that there was a substantial group who did not wish to see the shopping center proposal die. When asked by the Chairman of a Lexington Citizen's Committee in favor of the proposal if Filene's repre- sentatives would have themselves available to talk with them, the Committee was assured that they would be. Mr. Gummere said his group would like to find out what was defective in the presentation at the public hearing, to see a town recommendation elimi- ' nating these defects, to have said recommendation have Planning Board support, and finally to have the matter voted upon in a town referendum. He acknowl- edged that there were problems to be solved in regard to traffic, the size of buildings, etc. He said, however, that his group did not want to be a party either actively or passively for something the town does not believe in and that unless the proposal made sense to the Planning Board and the Planning Director, his group had nothing to talk about. When asked if his group would be willing to proceed with the project if the Hayden property were not included at all in the zoning for regional shop- ping use, Mr. Gummere asked what the town proposed to do with said property. Mr. Jaquith said he thought the town should control it, adding that if it were not zoned for regional shopping use, there would be no question about someone else using it for such use. Mr. Gummere replied that the only person interested in the property was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Boston and that he had no option on the property. Later when asked if his group would be willing to accept a limited area for regional shopping, Mr. Gummere said it would, but that his group would request further rezoning later on, the entire area being developed in sections, and the Hayden property being used for residential purposes since it could not be carried for nothing.