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PLANNING BOARD MINUTES
MEETING OF AUGUST 29, 2012
A regular meeting of the Lexington Planning Board, held in Estabrook Hall, Cary Memorial
Building was called to order at 7:32 p.m. by Chairman Richard Canale with members Wendy
Manz, Charles Hornig and Michelle Ciccolo and planning staff Maryann McCall-Taylor, Aaron
Henry and Lori Kaufman present. Greg Zurlo was absent.
************************DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION*********************
APPROVAL NOT REQUIRED
38 Somerset Road, Approval Not Required (ANR):
On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, 4-0, to endorse the plan entitled “Plan of
Land in Lexington, MA” dated July 11, 2012, prepared and certified by Clifford Rober,
Professional Land Surveyor, Arlington, MA with Form A (2012-6) submitted by Walter Hatfield
the applicant, as it does not require approval under subdivision control law.
376 Lincoln Street/73 Middle Street, sketch plan:
Present was John Farrington, attorney, Gary Larson, landscape architect, Mark Barons,
applicant/developer, Jim Decelle, engineer, Jim Burke, soil tester and Sheila Demarderosian, the
property owner.
Mr. Farrington said that the property is two and one half acres and abuts seven acres of
conservation land. The applicant met with the Historical Commission and received permission to
move the existing structure and divide it into two dwelling units. The proposed plan shows a
balanced housing development (BHD) with access off Middle Street, with all units less than
3,000 square feet and one to one and one half stories. The developer met with the neighbors two
times.
Mr. Decelle said the project consists of three lots off the road and two ANR lots in the RS zone
and all lots exceed 15,000 square feet, the road grade is five and one half percent and is located
181 feet from wetlands.
Page 2 Minutes for the Meeting of August 29, 2012
Mr. Larson showed the existing conditions and will provide a site analysis plan to staff. The
majority of the site has slopes of less than 15 percent. A public benefit development (PBD) is
possible with 12 units but after meeting with the neighbors has been reduced to 10 units.
Board Comments:
Mr. Canale said correspondence was received requesting this item be postponed to a later
date and another letter that expressed concerns about placement and drainage issues. The
Board will discuss this matter tonight since it is in early stages and the process will
continue with more details provided at a later date if the applicant chooses to return.
Where is the common open space? Mr. Decelle said there would be 40,000 square feet of
open space around the outside edges of the development and the island. Residents would
consider that their backyards and then there would be no exclusive use area for the
residents of the condominium. Consider compressing the development and try to create
more open space.
The proposed common drive would be 18 feet wide and the Fire Department wants a
width of 24 feet.
Would it be a BHD or PBD? Mr. Farrington said a BHD would be submitted with an
affordable unit being provided.
The smaller units and the reduction in the number of units from 12 to 10 is preferred.
Did the applicant meet with Conservation? No, it was determined that it would not be
necessary by Mary Trudeau a conservation expert.
Preservation of the trees would be important to maintain the integrity of the slope,
consider combining some of the detached units and do a better job on the open spaces.
Look at other configurations.
Consider the streetscape regarding the setback and orientation of the units.
Audience Comments:
There was concerns regarding the density of the proposed site and a further reduction in
the number of units would be better.
There are concerns about drainage and how the increased runoff from the site would
cause changes in the water level.
How will a development of this size on Middle Street impact traffic and parking, which is
already tight?
Minutes for the Meeting of August 29, 2012 Page 3
This site is allowed five lots by right;
what is the formula?
Board and Staff Comments:
The applicant should discuss the direction of the plan with abutters.
The dwellings should be pushed closer together.
There is a large conservation parcel abutting this site has anyone spoken with
Conservation regarding the Town acquiring a piece of this land? Mr. Henry said that
Conservation does not have this site on the list for open space and it is very unlikely that
conservation would look to acquire a piece of this land.
Try pushing the new two-family unit up higher on the hill and combine two more units
into a duplex.
Check the calculations on the impervious surface.
There maybe an issue with parking which needs to be addressed and could make it very
tight on the site.
Document how the runoff will be improved in the next iteration.
Work out an agreement with the Historical Commission for the preservation of the
historic house for the future.
Audience Comments:
The historic structure will not be seen from the road once it is set back into the site.
Moving toward multi-family homes would be a distraction from the diverse housing
stock of single family houses such as capes and is not desirable.
There is concern with crowding of too many units on this site.
Mr. Farrington said the applicant would like to come back with a preliminary plan. Mr. Henry
asked the Board to clarify what they felt about 10 units going forward with a preliminary plan.
The Board was concerned about moving forward since abutters asked for a delay and the
preference would be to go with another sketch plan. This would be the applicant’s decision.
**************************ZONING BYLAWS REWRITE**************************
Table of Uses:
Mr. Bobrowski said that Chapter 5 non-conformities was close to being finished and chapters 1-5
comments will be discussed at the next meeting. Tonight the Board discussed some of the
Page 4 Minutes for the Meeting of August 29, 2012
proposed changes to the use table with Mr. Bobrowski as submitted by Mr. Hornig. Some of the
changes discussed were:
Group Care Facilities are likely to be exempt and should be changed from “SP” to “N” to
match the current bylaw. The Board needs to mull this over;
Accessory Uses are allowed unless prohibited and do not need to be listed;
Add Family Child care large and small;
Eliminating the RM district or put an “N” throughout the column for now.
The Board went through the use table up to H.1.23 and will continue at the next meeting on
September 12 and then again on October 10, 2012.
************************DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION*********************
41-47 School Street, ANR:
On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, 4-0, to endorse the plan entitled “Plan of
Land 41 & 47 School Street Lexington, MA” dated June 29, 2012, prepared and certified by
Edward Farrell, Professional Land Surveyor, Woburn, MA with Form A (2012-5) submitted by
Monica Grewall the applicant, as it does not require approval under subdivision control law.
121 Marrett Road, ANR:
The applicant is seeking to divide a large parcel subject to a deed restriction that limits the
number and location of future lots. This plan creates two buildable lots and one unbuildable
parcel. The Board discussed adding language to the notes on the plan that state for the purposes of
the subdivision control law, parcel C-6 cannot be used as a site for a building.
On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, 4-0, to endorse the plan entitled “121 Marrett
Road Plan of Land Lexington, MA” dated August 1, 2012, prepared and certified by Kevin E.
Danahy, Professional Land Surveyor, Beverly, MA with Form A (2012-7) submitted by Thomas
Cataldo Trustee, the applicant, as it does not require approval under subdivision control law with
the added language as discussed above.
Cornerstone Way, Performance Guarantee modification:
The applicant has requested the reduction of the bond for the performance guarantee from
$208,556 to $115,497. Mr. Henry said the applicant sent an updated list of items to be completed
Minutes for the Meeting of August 29, 2012 Page 5
for Cornerstone Way from the original estimate cost to construct, which was recently approved
by Engineering. It was determined that the $115,497 bond would be sufficient to secure the
outstanding work.
On a motion duly made and seconded it was voted, 4-0, to accept the reduction of the bond from
$208,556 to $115,497 for Cornerstone Way.
***********************************MINUTES**********************************
On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, 4-0, to approve the minutes as amended for
July 11, 2012.
On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, 4-0, to approve the minutes as amended for
July 18, 2012.
*****************PLANNING BOARD ORGANIZATION, SCHEDULE****************
The Board will meet on Wednesday, September 12 and 19 and October 10, 2012 at 7:30 p.m. in
the Selectmen’s Meeting Room. The target date to get the Zoning Bylaw completed and out to
the public for review is October 11, 2012. Michelle will be unavailable on October 24.
*******************************STAFF REPORTS*******************************
Ms. McCall-Taylor discussed LexEngage a new website tool to encourage citizen participation
and offers rewards to all those who do participate. Board Members were encouraged to sign up
and become involved and can earn reward points.
Mr. Henry said that the discussion of road standards that started with Wachusetts Drive should be
back on the Planning Board’s radar and on the agenda for November.
******************************** BOARD REPORTS*****************************
Mr. Canale said the newly paved access to the Diamond School is done.
On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn the meeting at 10:45 p.m.
Page 6 Minutes for the Meeting of August 29, 2012
The meeting was recorded by Lexmedia.
The following documents used at the meeting can be found on file with the Planning Department:
Agenda Item Summary and Staff recommendation for Lincoln and Middle Street
Development sketch plan (8 pages).
Letter from Joshua Summers regarding Lincoln/Middle Street., dated August 28, 2012 (2
pages).
Letter from Michelle Mello regarding Lincoln/Middle Street, dated August 22, 2012 (1
page).
Agenda Item Summary and Staff recommendation for three ANR Plans (8 pages).
Mr. Hornig’s proposed changes to the Use Table (21 pages).
Michelle Ciccolo, Clerk