2004-10-13-PB-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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PLANNING BOARD MINUTES MEETING OF OCTOBER 13, 2004 A regular meeting of the Lexington Planning Board held in the Selectmen's Meeting Room, Town Office Building, was called to order at 7:40 p.m. by Chairman Kastorf with members Davies, Harden, Manz and planning staff McCall- Taylor present. ****** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** MINUTES ******* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** Review of Minutes The Board reviewed and corrected the minutes for the meeting of September 1, 2004. On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the minutes as amended. * * * * * * * * * * ** ADMINISTRATION OF LAND DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS * * * * * * * * * * * ** SUBDIVISION OF LAND Grandview Avenue — Ms. McCall - Taylor reported that Mr. Kevin Bott, of town counsel, was not able to be present to discuss the recent decision in the appeal of the Grandview subdivision. Should the Board want to appeal the decision, they would have to decide by the next meeting. However, Mr. Bott did not see any advantage to the Town in appealing and would advise against it. The Board members agreed that it was not a path they would pursue. Mr. Bott or Mr. Pace will attend a future meeting to discuss the implications of the decision. The members received copies of the Consolidated Housing Plan that had been drafted by Karen Sobol of the planning office. They agreed to review it and suggest any changes by the next meeting. Ms. McCall - Taylor said they were particularly interested in input on the strategic plan. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** ARTICLES FOR 2005 TOWN MEETING * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** Mr. Kastorf said that it was time to think through what the Planning Board is going bring forward to Town Meeting and whether or not the Housing Partnership would be bringing forward articles on their own. Mr. Harden stated that one approach might be to present drafts at the preliminary public hearing with the understanding that they might not go forward with all. He felt that the workload on the staff would be about the same if the Housing Partnership or the Lexington Center Committee moved ahead with articles on their own, than if the Planning Board sponsored the article. Mr. Davies said they should move ahead with some, and suggested that as the accessory apartment and adaptive reuse articles were amendments to the existing zoning they might be less work and more likely to pass. Inclusionary Housing — The discussion began with the issue of whether the board should try to go forward with this article for the next town meeting and who should sponsor it. Mr. Davies said that maybe the inclusionary housing bylaw should be sponsored by the Housing Partnership but other members felt that it would need staff support. After further discussion, the Board agreed that the inclusionary bylaw needed more preliminary discussion and that they should start in 2004 in preparation for the 2006 Town Meeting. Some sort of report to the 2005 Town Meeting would be useful, but members were concerned that even that would require a lot of background information and they didn't want to have a lack of information result in people getting entrenched in a negative response to the article. Mr. Davies said he felt that it was reasonable to have a long range plan and say that the inclusionary bylaw would be coming later. Mr. Kastorf warned against putting forth an article only to withdraw it later, as this makes the Board look indecisive. Ms. Manz suggested presenting the concept in an educational forum, not so much a public hearing venue. The general consensus was to report to Town Meeting on what the Board was considering and to include it all in presentations at the public hearings. The members agreed to take a harder look at the documents over the next two weeks and come back with specific questions. Ms. McCall- Taylor said