2007-06-05-PB-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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PLANNING BOARD MINUTES MEETING OF JUNE 5, 2007 A regular meeting of the Lexington Planning Board was held in the Planning Office in the Town Office Building, and called to order at 8:00 a.m. by Chairman Manz with members Zurlo, Hornig, Galaitsis and Canale and planning staff McCall-Taylor, Henry and Tapper present. *******************************CLUSTER BYLAW************************************ Board members were asked to describe what they want a cluster bylaw to accomplish. Mr. Galaitsis began by stating that he wanted to see credible open space, actual clustering of dwellings, impacts equal to conventional subdivisions, a better impervious surface ratio that was lower, not higher, and smaller units, (not the large units contained in many clusters to date), with an affordable component. He felt the developer was looking for certainty and fast tracking. Mr. Canale said to look at the title of the bylaw section. If cluster is not what is being sought the Board should come up with a name to describe what they are trying to get, without getting too hokey. He did not favor using the current popular phrase “smart growth.” He felt the essence of what they were trying to get was site sensitive residential development; something that was context sensitive and worked with the site. He wanted wise use of space rather than dictating houses that don’t fit on site in the context of the neighborhood Mr. Zurlo wanted site sensitive development with the buildings sited to minimize cut and fill. On the macro level he wondered what the town goals were and thought they ought to be defined. He felt they were housing and development patterns. His sense was that smaller units relate to affordability. Mr. Hornig said he liked the simplification suggestions. In the end a cluster by special permit is better than a conventional. However, flexibility works against certainty. He felt there should be multiple kinds of developments such as site sensitive or affordable (40B “lite”), may be as of right. Rules may differ by the type of approach. Ms. Manz asked how much we want to burden clusters, could everything be done in one bylaw?