2004-04-12-PB-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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PLANNING BOARD MINUTES MEETING OF APRIL 12, 2004 The meeting of the Lexington Planning Board held in Room 227 of the Clarke Middle School, was called to order at 6:10 p.m. by Chairman Harden with members Davies, Galaitsis, Kastorf and Manz and planning staff Garber and McCall - Taylor present. Also present were Loren Wood, Bob Bicknell, Kevin Johnson, Elizabeth Smith, Sally Castleman, Sara Arnold and Elaine Dratch. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** ARTICLES FOR 2004 TOWN MEETING * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** Article 6 — Open Space — Mr. Galaitsis will do a brief presentation prior to asking for indefinite postponement of the article. He will explain that the Board is in agreement on a revision of the original article but that they feel there is not sufficient time for the Town Meeting members to review the article so it will be brought back to next year's meeting. Mr. Davies had a few suggestions about the wording that will be incorporated. Article 11 -- Center Parking — Ms. Manz will do the presentation of the Board's position against adoption of the article. The Board indicated their appreciation of the efforts of the center committee in addressing the parking issue and said that they hoped to work with the committee to bring a better solution to Town Meeting next year. Article 13 — Metropolitan. Hospital Redevelopment — Mr. Harden gave a brief overview of the latest version of the mitigations being offered by AvalonBay. Board members had received the document by email late that afternoon. The major points were as follows: + The number of units remains at 387 but the number of one - bedroom units increases by 20 while the number of two- and three - bedroom units decreases. + With the modified unit mix the number of school -aged children is predicted to be 101. This results in a positive fiscal impact of $20,000. * The previously offered $200,00 for school transportation and $250,000 for traffic mitigation may be redistributed as deemed appropriate by the Town to address traffic mitigation and TDM measures. + There will be an annual contribution to Lexpress of $35,000 in perpetuity, with an escalator tied to the CPT. This is in lieu of the upfront money and the two years of fare subsidies previously offered. • There will be a shuttle to Alewife in perpetuity but with a five year review of its utilization. • The proposal for the reuse of Kline Hall is similar to early suggestions, although AvalonBay may use some of the terrace level as well as the upper floor, but not more than 7,000 square feet overall will be for its exclusive use. * A five -year education cost guaranty is being offered through DCAM. This will be based on the total number of school -aged children this current year. It will be in effect if more than 111 or less than 91 school -aged children from the development attend the Lexington schools and if in excess of the current system wide enrollment. Mr. Galaitsis said that he felt that the numbers for triggering the guaranty were reasonable. Mr. Harden asked when the five -year period would start. He felt that it should be tied to some level of occupancy as had. been the Patriot Partners' TDM measures. Ms. Manz thought that the five years should start after 75% occupancy had been reached. Ms. Smith from AvalonBay was asked what typical full occupancy rates might be. She said that at the height of the market it might be 97 to 98% but that they usually hope for something in the mid -90s. Members expressed their comfort with having the five -year guaranty begin when a 75% occupancy rate had been reached. There was discussion of the shuttle to Alewife, particularly the provision for a review in five years. Mr. Galaitsis was concerned about the possible potential to discontinue the shuttle. There could be a vicious circle where if service is poor, ridership will be low, leading to a discontinuance of the service. Members of the Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) were present and had questions. Ms. Castleman said it