2006-03-01-PB-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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PLANNING BOARD MINUTES MEETING OF MARCH 1, 2006 A regular meeting of the Lexington Planning Board held in the Selectmen's Meeting Room, Town Office Building, was called to order at 7:30 p.m. by Chairman Manz with members Hornig, Canale, Harden and planning staff McCall-Taylor, Schilt and Tap present. Mr. Galaitsis was absent. Ms. McCall-Taylor observed that tonight was Mr. Harden's last meeting as a Planning Board member and on behalf of the Town thanked him for his five years of service. Ms. McCall-Taylor presented him with a proclamation from State Representative Jay Kaufman recognizing his years serving as a Planning Board member and his involvement in Lexington's 2020 Vision process. ************************ ARTICLES FOR 2006 TOWN MEETING ************************ PUBLIC HEARING Article 7, CD-7 to CD-13, 727 Marrett Road, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide: At 7:45 p.m., Ms. Manz opened the public hearing on the petition of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide to rezone its property at 727 Marrett Road, the site of the Sheraton Lexington Hotel, from CD-7 to CD-13, Planned Commercial Development. The development team was present, consisting of Mr. John Farrington, attorney; Mr. Scott Thrun, Director of Real Estate Marketing, Starwood; Mr. John Fotiadis, architect, Costas Kondylis and Partners Architects; Mr. Robert Weidknecht, landscape architect, Beals & Thomas, Inc.; Mr. Alex Campbell, architect, Fruchtman Associates Architects. Mr. Farrington briefly described the history of the hotel site. In 1989, the Sheraton made plans to renovate and expand the hotel, but they were never implemented. Starwood purchased it from The Flatley Company and now wants to demolish the old building and replace it with two smaller hotel buildings. Starwood believes the new hotel complex would be an attractive community resource, which would generate an estimated $1,000,000 in tax revenue beginning in 2008 with a yearly projected increase of three percent. Building permit fees paid to the town would be about $200,000. Mr. Thrun presented an overview of the service and lifestyle experience the two brand name hotels would offer travelers. He said that: the buildings will be set lower into the ground and the interior height reduced; the plans call for less disturbance to the knoll at the northwest end of the site than was called for in the 1989 plans; a common green area between the hotels; "energized" interiors with links to the outside; different exterior cladding materials; a connection (as yet undefined) to the Minuteman National Historical Park; fewer parking spaces. Mr. Weidknecht provided site overviews with an aerial photograph, cross-sections, and elevations as well as renderings. He said that particular attention was paid to the view from historic Fiske Hill. The knoll and a rock outcropping near the shared common area are treated as features. Mr. Fotiadis described how the architecture and materials refer to the historical and cultural setting of the hotel: the "village green", the stone and clapboard exterior of the Westin building, the quiet exterior lighting and views from the open area into buildings with a restful aspect, and a water feature near each entry. Planning Board Questions and Comments The Planning Board observed that the plans responded in part to comments made in February but noted that more blasting would be required as the buildings are set deeper into the site, so the cut and fill ratio would change. They were assured that blasting would be minimized by "ripping" as much as possible. Mr. Thrun outlined a conservative estimate of revenues the Town could expect from the project. The Board urged the team to provide a detailed fiscal impact analysis.