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PLANNING BOARD MINUTES MEETING OF JANUARY 14, 1985 The meeting of the Lexington Planning Board, held in Room G-15, Town Offices, was called to order at 7:38 p.m. by the Chairman, Mrs. Smith, with members Cripps, Flemings, Sorensen, Uhrig and Planning Director Bowyer present. 8. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The minutes of the meetings of November 5 and 26, 1984, and January 7, 1985, were corrected. On the motion of Mr. Sorensen, seconded by Mr. Cripps, it was voted unanimously to approve the minutes of the meetings of November 19 and December 10, 1984, as written, and the meetings of November 5 and 26, 1984, and January 7, 1985, as corrected. ARTICLES FOR 1985 TOWN MEETING 9. Article A. Technical Corrections: The Board reviewed the draft dated 1/11/85, particularly the new wording on special permits with site plan review. The Board approved the 1/11/85 draft and it is ready to be placed on the warrant. 10. Artcle B, Planned Residential Development: The Board continued its review of the comprehensive revision working from the draft dated 1/11/85. There was extensive debate about the amount of freedom and flexibility to be afforded developers. Mr. Bowyer explained that in the concept of "density zoning," the ' principal criterion is density permitted with less reliance on numerical and geometric standards. He also pointed out the proposed use of qualitative cri- teria for evaluating development proposals. Mr. Sorensen objected to this approach because: 1) a developer could not deter- mine in advance what specific standards would be applied and 2) many of the criteria were subjective, dependent upon human judgement and could fluctuate in their application depending upon which people were serving on the board which applied the criteria. While dimensions may not always produce the best designs, they are a common reference point and both the applicant and the board can agree on their application. Mrs. Smith commented that such of the remaining land for development in Lexington is marginal and that flexibility is needed to deal with the problems inherent in those sites. Mrs. Flemings commented that negotiation and public agency review is a common part of the development process in the 1980'x. It was agreed that a waiver from the dimensional requirements should be allowed by a special permit if the development complied with the qualitative criteria. It was agreed to have proposed density bonus provisions in Article C, Specialized Amendments. It was also agreed to discontinue the use of the RM zoning district for new multi -family residential development. 11. Schedule For Public Hearings It was agreed to group the fourteen petitions to amend the Zoning Map or the Zoning By -Law into five sets of hearing. Five amendments involving minor changes in the text will be held on Monday, February 11; three hearings for multi -family residential development along Lowell or Woburn Streets will be held on Wednesday, February 13; the planned residential development and specialized amendments to it