Planning Board Minutes, 1991-04-08

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PLANNING BOARD MINUTES MINUTES OF APRIL 8, 1991 The meeting of the Lexington Planning Board held in Room G-15, Town Office Building, was called to order at 7 05 p.m. by the Chairman, Mrs. Wood, with members, Davison, Grant, Williams, Planning Director Bowyer and Assistant Planner Marino present. Mr. Williams left after Item 89. Mr. Domnitz arrived during Item 90. 89. Review of Minutes The Board reviewed the minutes for the meetings of March 18 and 25, 1991. On the motion of Mr. Williams, seconded by Mr. Grant, it was voted 4-0 to approve the minutes, as written. The Board reviewed and edited the minutes for the meeting of April 1, 1991. On the motion of Mr. Williams, seconded by Mr. Grant, it was voted 4-0 to approve the minutes, as amended. ****************************** REPORTS ****************************** 90. Planning Director a. Preserving Rural Character Mr. Bowyer distributed copies of a report from the APA Planning Advisory Service. Mr. Bowyer noted the report contains good ideas on site planning and criteria for reviewing cluster and conventional subdivisions. He added copies also will be given to some developers. Mr. Bowyer also reported that another report from the APA was received today, entitled "Reinventing the Village", about preserving the character of villages and small towns. Copies of this report will also be distributed to the Board. b. APA Bulletin Board: Mr. Bowyer reported that he and Mr. Marino had attended the first session of a continuing education program sponsored by the New England Chapter of APA. John Thomas of Beals and Thomas made a very informative presentation of the public regulation of site planning. Among other things, he stressed it was more important to be concerned about water quality than water quantity, particularly ' relating to water runoff in subdivisions. ********************* STATE LEGISLATION ************************************** 91. Planning Board Positions on Zoning Bills in the Legislature: Mr. Bowyer reviewed the background of Senate Bill 800, which deals with changes in the grandfathering/vesting of subdivision plans. APA has been working on this bill for about three years, including dialogue with the Mass. Homebuilders Association and thinks this bill, admittedly a compromise, is about as good as it can get. The bill would reduce the time period of vesting from 7-8 years to 4 years, and would move the trigger date back from the date of the enact- ment to the date of publication of the public hearing notice. The Board also agreed to support House Bill 1954 which would eliminate the three years use provision grandfathering through an ANR plan. On the motion of Mr. Domnitz, seconded by Mrs. Davison, it was voted unani- mously to send letters to appropriate committees in support of the two bills