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PLANNING BOARD MINUTES MEETING OF APRIL 9, 2001 The meeting of the Lexington Planning Board held in the Carpenter Room of the Museum of Our National Heritage, was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Chairman Galaitsis with members Bridge - Denzak, Chase, Davies, Harden, Planning Director Garber, and Assistant Planner McCall- Taylor present. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** MINUTES * * * * * x* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** Review of Minutes The Board postponed review of the minutes for the meetings of April 2 and April 4, 2001 until the next meeting. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** ARTICLES FOR 2001 TOWN MEETING Article 34, Tree By-Law Ms. Bridge - Denzak said she hoped that the Planning Board would support the tree by -law. Mr. Harden said his issue with the by -law is not that it regulates trees within the setbacks, but that it is limited only to expansion. He felt that this seemed unnecessary and discriminatory. He said if the Town regulates the tree canopy, it should be on a town -wide basis, not singling out particular people. Mr. Davies responded that it is not discriminatory, just limited. Mr. Harden said that it singled out builders and he thought the by -law should apply uniformly. Ms. Bridge - Denzak said it is not a mansionization issue, although that may have been the catalyst. She felt it did not single out developers as individuals add to houses too. She said that the committee had been trying to be sensitive to the issue of imposing restrictions on private property. Mr. Davies said he found the by -Iaw to be balanced, and clear in purpose. Ms. Bridge- Denzak said that by -laws are to preserve public good and trees are a public good. Mr. Galaitsis wondered if the by -law could just say that any time a tree is cut in the setback you need a permit. Mr. Davies said that realistically the threat occurs when construction is done. Ms. Bridge- Denzak said the committee debated whether there should be an independent tree permitting process or whether some other process should trigger the a tree permit. The committee decided that it was too cumbersome to be an independent process and, as the catalyst is development, it was incorporated into the building permit application. Mr. Galaitsis questioned why the by -law did not cover all trees in the set back. Mr. Davies said that it will be critical how the Planning Board feels about the amendment being put forth by Mr. Woods. He said he is very much against the amendment, which would limit the by -law to public trees. All the Board members agreed with him. Mr. Harden said he was thinking about offering an amendment to expand the scope to all trees within the setback and have any building permit trigger the need for a tree permit. Mr. Garber wondered if the exceptions were sharply enough drawn. He felt that the amendment Mr. Harden was contemplating possibly would make it harder to pass the by -law. Ms. Bridge - Denzak said it was good to take baby steps first. The first step would be to regulate trees as proposed and then expand later. She stressed that something is better than nothing. Ms. Chase said that there are flaws and the by -law will need some fine- tuning but that she hopes it passes and as a Planning Board member, she will support it. On the motion of Mr. Galaitsis, seconded by Ms. Bridge - Denzak, the Board voted 4 -0, with Mr. Harden abstaining, to endorse the tree by -law. Article 21, 7 Rezoning of 7 Hartwell Avenue. Mr. Garber called attention to the two e -mails the board had received on the subject today. There is no change in the building from what was said at the hearing. The motion handed out April 4 with the reduced list of uses is still the motion. Ms. Chase wondered if there was a buyer. Mr. Cox, who was there representing Citizen's Bank as the proponent of Article 21, said there is no longer a buyer, but a financial planner had been interested in the site. He explained that the standard free- standing suburban bank facility is now 3 - 4,000 square feet. The 10,000 square feet of this facility is just too much for a bank to take on. Ms. Chase said that she had been by the property and there was maintenance work that needed to be done. Mr. Cox said that while the bank would try to keep up the property, it has been empty for a year and maintenance may become a problem. Mr. Garber said