1939-02-16 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Meeting re apartment houses. SELECTMEN'S MEETING FEB. 18, 1939. A special meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Selectmen's Room, Town Office Building, at 7:30 P.M. Chairman Giroux and Messrs. Potter and Rowse were present. The Clerk was also present. Representatives of the Appropriation Committee, Plan- ning Board, Board of Appeals, Board of Assessors, the Building and Plumbing Inspectors, the Town Counsel, and Mr. Alan Adams were present at the meeting. The meeting was called to discuss the matter of changing the Zoning Laws to allow apartments in other than C.1 zones. Chairman Giroux called the meeting to order iat 7:45 P.M. He requested Chairman Greeley of the Planning Board to head that Board to report on the matter. Mr. Greeley read the report, which said first that the problem had three chief angles. First, apartments have a relation to tax revenue, and this relation should be studied to determine whether it is favorable or unfavorable; second the relation of apart- ments to the life of the commuhity, and third, their relation to existing real estate. Mr. Greeley said that this was not a final report. It was the feeling of the Planning Board that apartment houses were important to Lexington in order that young married couples could afford to pay the rent asked and re- main citizens of Lexington. The report said that there were several zones in which apartments might now be built, and if an owner should wish to build an apartment elsewhere, the Planning Board had in its files a model by-law, which it prepared in 1933, adapted to apartment zoning. The report said that the Building'Law which we now have included the State Tenement House Law, which permitted apartment buildings of 2j stories or less to be built of wood construction. If higher than 2j stories, they must be fireproof. The report stated that it was now possible under our Zoning Laws, to alter a one -family dwelling to accommodate more than one family, if a permit is granted by the Board of Appeals. Mr. Greeley said that some of the requirements of the Tenement House Law were onerous and would increase the ex- pense. For instance, that law requires a +shiwaey for each kitchen, and now that we have so many all -electric homes, this is not necessary. However, the only way that the Tenement House Law can be modified is by a Special Act of the Legislature. Mr, Clyde E. Steeves said that a 2j story limit would be detrimental to an apartment house. ' Mr. Greeley said that this problem came up in Cambridge, and they found that they could build thirty or forty -apartment 1 1