2005-02-16-PB-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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PLANNING BOARD MINUTES MEETING OF FEBRUARY 16, 2005 A regular meeting of the Lexington Planning Board held in Estabrook Hall, Cary Memorial Building, was called to order at 7:30 p.m. by Chairman Kastorf with members Davies, Galaitsis, Harden, Manz and planning staff McCall-Taylor and Tap present. ************ ADMINISTRATION OF LAND DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS ************* SUBDIVISION OF LAND Glen Road South Cluster Subdivision, Oberteuffer/Mockett, Endorse Approved Plans: Ms. McCall- Taylor informed the Board that the applicants, Mr. Oberteuffer and Ms. Mockett, have decided not to ask for a revision of the special permit for the Grant Street at Glen Road South Cluster Subdivision, approved by the Board on December 1, 2004. The Board voted to endorse the definitive plans. ************************ ARTICLES FOR 2005 TOWN MEETING ************************ Non-Zoning Articles: Mr. Harden suggested several articles which the Board may wish to comment on at Town Meeting: Article 6, Restrict Parking on Residential Streets; Articles 7and 8, Community Preservation Act; Article 19, Transfer North Street Land to Conservation; Article 20, Acquisition of Middlesex County Hospital Land; and Article 23, Acquisition of Franklin School Apartments. Article 5, Zoning Bylaw, Center Parking, Public Hearing: Mr. Kastorf opened the public hearing on the Board's proposed amendment to the CB, Center Business district parking regulations at 7:50. There were 20 people in the audience. Mrs. Manz explained that the amendment would relax somewhat the parking spaces requirement for restaurants in the center business district. The number of spaces a restaurant must provide in order to get a special permit has long been considered problematic—to the point of being referred to as a "virtual scheme"—and a barrier to new restaurants. Last year, the Center Committee tried to address this but their proposal was not approved by the Town Meeting. In support of the Center Committee's concerns and its proposed strategies to re-vitalize the center, the Planning Board has crafted an amendment that would not dramatically change the bylaw, but that would "level the playing field" by making the restaurant parking requirement the same as that of other businesses. The issues around this include: the need for parking enforcement; a parking study, which indicated there is ample parking but it is not used well and its locations not well identified; employees of businesses "feeding the meters"; lunch hour difficulties; and, overflow parking into residential neighborhoods. Mr. Julian Bussgang, 2 Forest Street, presented his objections to the proposed amendment, saying that the center does not need more restaurants; Lexington's parking requirements are more lax than those of other towns, and overflow parking in adjacent residential neighborhoods is a problem. In response to a question from Mrs. Judith Uhrig, chair of the Board of Appeals, Mrs. Manz said that the bylaw would not apply to other commercial districts, as no similar concerns have been identified there. Mr. Jerry Michelson agreed with Mr. Bussgang, noting that the number of cars in the state has increased 11 percent in the past decade so lessening parking requirements would be a bad move. He provided a number of other information points. Mr. Richard Michelson indicated that though there are fewer empty retail spaces than there were three years ago, economic conditions are still challenging for small businesses. He believes the proposed amendment would have a negative impact, as restaurants can outbid the useful specialty shops the center needs to improve the mix of stores.