2004-01-21-PB-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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PLANNING BOARD MINUTES MEETING OF JANUARY 21, 2004 The meeting of the Lexington Planning Board held in the Guard Room in the Police Station, was called to order at 7:30 p.m. by Chairman Harden with members Chase, Davies, Galaitsis, Kastorf and planning staff Garber, McCall - Taylor, and Tap present. * * * * * * * * * * ** ADMINISTRATION OF LAND DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS * * * * * * * * * * * ** SUBDIVISION OF LAND Clelland Road Definitive Conventional Subdivision, continued Public Hearing: Mr. Harden called the continued public hearing for the Clelland Road Conventional Subdivision to order at 7:45 p.m. Present were Mr. Rasko Ojdrovic and Ms. Miljana Bovan, the applicants. Mr. Ojdrovic is the designing engineer for the proposal. There were 20 people in the audience. Mr. Ojdrovic presented an overview of the definitive plans and drawings for his proposed two -lot subdivision on Clelland Road. He believes his plan will improve the safety of the intersection of Clelland Road with Lisbeth Street and improve access for emergency vehicles by widening and grading Clelland Road and adding curbing on the downside of the roadway, repairing the retaining wails, adding a new hydrant and providing a better turnaround for vehicles on Clelland Road. Requested waivers from the Development Regulations are: — connect to an intervening street — 30 -foot right -of -way — hammerhead turnaround instead of a full cul de sac — three -foot wide road shoulders Mr. Ojdrovic said that he has addressed the comments by Assistant Fire Chief Middlemiss and the Engineering Division, though he just received a memo from Assistant Town Engineer David Carbonneau today. He countered claims made in letters from some abutters that were sent to the Board and circulated among the abutters. Some of these claims were: — inadequate access by emergency vehicles to the new houses on Clelland road --- additional run -off of storm water ---- the possibly oversized scale of the new dwellings would not hit well into the neighborhood — the potential construction damage to the fragile woodland character of the street Mr. Ojdrovic stated that the new turnaround was designed using a template provided by Mr. Middlemiss. He is malting improvements to the sewer cleanout and believes he can do all of this work in a sensitive manner. He will continue to work with the neighbors. Board Questions and Comments: Concerns expressed by the Board were: how the work could be accomplished without the abutters' approval (Mr. Ojdrovic said that his work would be only within the 30 -foot right -of -way). Discussing the public safety concerns is not the same as solving the problems that the fire department and engineering division identified, demonstrated by the memo from Mr. Carbonneau today, which listed his concerns. (Mr. Ojdrovic has not had time to talk with Mr. Carbonneau.) Audience Questions and Comments: Many of the abutters were very concerned about the potential for increased run -off from Clelland due to the new dwellings, added road surface and removal of vegetation. A number of neighbors living on Massachusetts Avenue say that they already have problems already with water in their basements. Mr. Ojdrovic indicated that he tools all of these conditions into account when he designed the drainage system. There will be underground chambers, as required, to recharge the groundwater, resulting in less runoff. He will remove few trees and will seek input from the nearest abutters regarding plantings.