2023-02-08-PB-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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Lexington Planning Board Meeting Minutes February 8, 2023, Page 1 of 9 Minutes of the Lexington Planning Board Held on Wednesday February 8, 2023, Virtual Meeting at 6:00 pm Planning Board members Present: Robert Peters, Chair; Michael Schanbacher, Vice-Chair; Melanie Thompson, Clerk; Robert Creech, Charles Hornig, and Michael Leon, Associate Member. Special Permit Residential Development (SPRD) Committee members present: Jill Hai, Chair, Wendy Manz, Joyce Murphy, Charles Hornig, Scott Cooper, Richard Perry, Heather Hartshorn, and Betsey Weiss. Also present were Carol Kowalski, Assistant Town Manager for Development; Abby McCabe, Planning Director; Molly Belanger, Planner and Kiruthika Ramakrishnan, Planning Coordinator. Robert Peters, Chair of the Planning Board called to order the meeting of the Lexington Planning Board on Wednesday, February 8, 2023, at 6:00 pm. For this meeting, the Planning Board is convening by video conference via Zoom. LexMedia is filming this meeting and will record it for future viewing. Detailed information for remote participation by the public may be found on the Planning Office web page. Mr. Peters conducted a roll call to ensure all members of the Planning Board and members of staff present could hear and be heard. Mr. Peters provided a summary of instructions for members of the public in attendance. It was further noted that materials for this meeting are available on the Town's Novus Packet dashboard. Mr. Peters recognized Ms. Hai, the chair of the Special Permit Residential Development (SPRD) Committee to call to order the SPRD Committee. Ms. Hai conducted a roll call to ensure all members of the SPRD committee could hear and be heard. Town Meeting Public Hearing: Article 33 Amend Zoning Bylaw Relative to Special Permit Residential Development (SPRD) Ms. Manz shared her presentation and gave a brief introduction on the formation of the SPRD committee and the need to bring about change. Ms. Manz detailed the committee’s work which was geared towards encouraging smaller, more varied and inclusive housing. Ms. Manz listed the statement of values for the SPRD Committee, which was to seek greater diversity in housing to meet the needs of families and individuals of different circumstances and that new homes should be built to sustainable standards and explained the Goals of the committee in detail. Ms. Manz shared pictures of examples in nearby communities of smaller, affordable and more sustainable homes. Ms. Manz explained in detail about the work done by the committee to draft the bylaw, which included workshops, talking to various members of the building community, town staff and housing advocates. Ms. Manz went over the committee’s recommendations in detail and explained the project review process, which will be Site Plan Review without a Special Permit. Ms. Manz felt that their proposal complements the MBTA Multi- family zoning proposal and explained the need of both to address the housing crisis.