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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-05-11-ZBA-min MINUTES of the Lexington Zoning Board of Appeals May 11, 2006 Present: Chairman — Judith J. Uhrig, John J. McWeeney, Maura L. Sheehan, Arthur C. Smith and Associate Martha Wood Petition Address: 1752 Massachusetts Avenue The relief sought is to renew a Special Permit from Section 135 -69D & 135 -16 to continue to operate an ice cream parlor called Rancatore's Ice Cream. The Chairman opened the hearing at 7:47 PM by reading the legal notice and described information received from the petitioner relative to the petition. Prior to the hearing, the petition and supporting data were reviewed by the Building Commissioner, Conservation Administrator, Town Engineer, Health Director, Zoning Enforcement Officer, Planning Board and Selectmen's Office. There were comments from the Planning Board regarding parking compliance and from the Selectmen's office letting know petitioner know they would need to know if there are any time changes in the hours of operation. Joe Rancatore, owner of the business, presented the petition. He presented the Board with a letter from Gail Wagnor, Transportation Services Coordinator for the Town of Lexington showing the three -town parking permits Rancatore's hold and a schedule of grandfathered parking spots for the building. The Board had questions regarding HDC's approval for the trashcans and who maintains the window boxes. There were no questions from the audience. The following spoke in favor of the petition: Valarie Perkin, 8 Wheeler Road Mary Jo Bohart, Lexington Chamber of Commerce Eric Shapiro, 1 Ringe Avenue No one spoke in opposition of the petition. The hearing was closed at 7:58 PM. May 11, 2006 Minutes 2 Decision: On a motion by John McWeeney and seconded by Arthur Smith, the Board voted 5 -0 to Renew the SPECIAL PERMIT for five years with the following conditions: 1. Permitted hours of operation shall be 10:00 AM to 11:00 PM, seven days a week. 2. The applicant will maintain two trash barrels, one on Massachusetts Avenue and one on Waltham Street. 3. The applicant will plant and maintain window boxes, which have been designed to restore the boxes that were previously in place. 4. The permit will expire June 30, 2011. Application for renewal should be made eight weeks before the special permit expires. May 11, 2006 Minutes 3 DRAFT MINUTES of the Lexington Zoning Board of Appeals May 11, 2006 Present: Chairman — Judith J. Uhrig, John J. McWeeney, Maura L. Sheehan, Arthur C. Smith and Associate Martha Wood Petition Address: 5 Minuteman Lane The relief sought is for a variance from 135 -35, Table 2, Dimension Control of the Town of Lexington Zoning By -laws to allow a side set back of 14.4 -feet instead of the required 15 -feet to construct a garage and a front variance of 24.2 -feet instead of the required 30 -feet frontage to construct a vestibule. The Chairman opened the hearing at 8:00 PM by reading the legal notice and described information received from the petitioner relative to the petition. Prior to the hearing, the petition and supporting data were reviewed by the Building Commissioner, Conservation Administrator, Town Engineer, Health Director, Zoning Enforcement Officer, Planning Board and Selectmen's Office. Comments were received from Conservation Administrator and two memorandums from Engineering regarding the utility manhole that the proposed addition would cover. Parameswar Garimella, owner of the property, presented the petition. The Board had the asked for clarification of the set -backs needed and questioned if there was a second garage. They are creating a second garage and expanding the second floor to expand bedroom over the garages. No one spoke in favor of the petition. Carol Sealice of 7 Minuteman Lane had concern with the need for blasting to change the manhole core due to ledge on the property. The hearing was closed at 8:12 PM. Discussion: The Board felt that the applicant had proven hardship due to the ledge and topography of the lot. They also referred to the memorandum from Mike Flamang of the Engineering Department stating that the house sewer will be rerouted through a sanitary "T" with a cleanout in the garage. Any interfering manhole structure will be removed. Mike Flamang said this connection can be done and should not affect the appeal case. May 11, 2006 Minutes 4 Decision: On a motion by John McWeeney and seconded by Arthur Smith, the Board voted 5 -0 to approve a VARIANCE for a side set -back of 14.4 -feet instead of the required 15 -feet to construct a garage and a front VARIANCE of 24.2 —feet instead of the required 30 -feet to build a vestibule over the front stairs. Submitted by: Dianne Cornaro, Clerk May 11, 2006 Minutes 5 DRAFT MINUTES of the Lexington Zoning Board of Appeals May 11, 2006 Present: Chairman — Judith J. Uhrig, John J. McWeeney, Maura L. Sheehan, Arthur C. Smith and Associate Martha Wood Petition Address: 324 Marrett Road The relief sought is for a Special Permit for the redevelopment of an existing retail gasoline station and convenience store. The Chairman opened the hearing at 8:20 PM by reading the legal notice and described information received from the petitioner relative to the petition. Prior to the hearing, the petition and supporting data were reviewed by the Building Commissioner, Conservation Administrator, Town Engineer, Health Director, Zoning Enforcement Officer, Planning Board, Lexington Design Advisory Committee and the Lexington Tree Committee. Comments were given from Conservation (Upcoming Conservation hearing, Town Engineer Department reviewing sanitation management system design to ensure proper standards and calcs.) All other comments were addressed through other committees. The Chairman read letters to the audience from the Design Advisory Committee who reported on meetings, recommendation made and accepted. DCA noted that they recommended the planned renovations as a visual, operational and safety improvement. The Chairman also noted and read a report from two members of the Lexington Tree Committee who reviewed the Gulf Oil Station site and drawings focusing on the plantings and the natural barrier between the Gulf Oil proposed redevelopment and the residential property, west of the redevelopment site on Marrett road. They made five recommendations that were read aloud and the Petitioners acknowledged they were agreeable to them. Attorney John Smolak, representing Cumberland Farms presented the petition along with Frank Montero, the site Engineer. Proposed is the redevelopment of a Gulf gas station at 324 Marrett Road as a convenience store /gas station/ car repair facility, service station. These are the same uses as at present. The Attorney detailed the history of the site's use as a gas station going back more than 4 decades. This project is on a Business Zoned 34,000 Sq. Ft. lot in an RCS district. Existing is a single story Gulf mini mart with 6 dispensers with canopy. The existing station has May 11, 2006 Minutes 6 dispensers on the side as well as the front of the station, which together with the situation that some dispensers only work from 1 side causes confusion for customers. Improvements planned are to demolish the existing structure and build a new structure that is located on the lot further back from Marrett Road with the canopy and all pumps in front of the building. The service bays will operate from the rear of the building that cuts down on vehicle conflicts. Parking for the convenience store will have adequate convenient parking. Most significantly the wide -open driveway onto the intersection will be eliminated and new driveways will be constructed at the far ends of the property to provide safer access to and from the station and at the intersection. State DPW has reviewed plans and is in concert with these changes. The State is in process of getting ready to do over this intersection and sees this as is a valuable safety improvement. The new building will be lower in height so as to benefit the view from abutting residences, it increases the size of the convenience store, increases the number of dispensers and continues to operate the 3 service bays. Additional improvements are to upgrade the service bays, replace fire suppression system, remove 4 existing gas storage tanks with new 3 double walled tanks and re- landscape. Proponents have met with the following Departments- building, Planning, Fire, Conservation and Design Review Advisory Board and abutters. Frank Montero, P.E. site engineer: the site it going to be demolished and reconfigured into a T- shape. Suggestions for officials and neighbors were accepted and reviewed and introduced to the plan if it made the development a better plan. For example the number of pumps was reduced from 10 to 8, a 10 -foot fence is planned as a buffer in addition to an existing 6 -foot fence and natural trees and landscaping. The height of the building was lowered and other design features added to improve the appearance. Traffic circulation, curbs cuts, driveways, will change so that the intersection will no longer dispense from all angles. This redesign is safer and will allow dispensing of gas from any direction. State of the art monitoring system of all tanks will be in place. The traffic engineer reported Mass Highway is working closely with Cumberland Farms The following has been addressed: closing up curb cuts, better organize the traffic flow, keep curb cuts away from neighbors, cut thru traffic will be less inviting. A new sidewalk is being installed along the Marrett Road frontage making it safer for bicycles and pedestrians. Site development would increase traffic by only 5 -10 new vehicles per hour and these would be pass -by trips as customers for these uses are already on the road, this reflects minimal increase in traffic. Board members brought up the following questions and concerns: May 11, 2006 Minutes 7 Cumberland Farm Representative Paul Wilson related that the simulated windows would be on the front side of the building that the garage is on and will match the real windows on the backside of the building. Existing contamination from the site was questioned as to cause and impacts. A waste oil tank trailer will be brought in for the remediation of waste oil and also remove all contaminated oil from the site. Additional site clean up is another benefit of the renovations. A transformer pad will be built and placed in the right rear corner of site. Representatives were quested about alternate locations for this and they responded that several were looked at but none worked due to conflicts with other aspects of the site. They agreed to install a buffer that will cut back on any noise. The right rear corner is higher than abutter's lot and is a safety issue that was questioned as to best solution. Petitioners were asked to explain the parking requirements and adequacy of them. There will be a total of 5 employees at any given time. The tandem spaces are for auto repairs. In the future Mass Highway will be taking a minor portion of the property but the new sidewalk will stay. A member questioned the building architecture; the flat roof and squatty look. Response: that it had been the Design Committee recommendation to use this plan. Frank from Cumberland farms responded that the height of the of the canopy was 14' it had been taller but it was reduced because of the D.R C. the lighting was seriously considered and a flush lens design is being used to shield the neighbors from being affected directly by the light source. They requested operating hours of 5:30 am until 11 (7) seven Days a week. Board Approved hours of: Store: 6AM — 11 PM, Gas: 6AM — 11 PM and Restriction on service: 7AM - 9PM In response to a question regarding signage they said the current pylon sign would stay -it was originally erected in 1986 and refurbished in 1996. For this renovation the bottom panel of the sign will be placed on the wall of the building. There were a number of questions from the audience: May 11, 2006 Minutes 8 • Marg Hertz, 335 Marrett Road, wanted verification of hours. Hours of operation will remain the same. • Tanya Morresett, 21 Valleyfield Street, doesn't understand the calculations used for the increase in business. • Xiaomei Zhuang, 24 Valleyfield, talked of concerns with contamination issues. • Euginio Scalizo, 403 Marrett Road, asked about procedures for snow removal. • Barbara Masi, 58 Bridge Street, not an abutter but is concerned with the potential for contamination. • Tom Todd, 345 Waltham Street, was concerned with lighting issues and parking in association with service bays. • Tracey Hebert, 366 Marrett Road, also concerned with the lighting of the facility. • Gideone Ben Hoin, 62 Bridge Street, concerned with existing tanks, responsibility of clean up, fencing and lighting. • Adam Straws, 348 Marrett Road, concern with traffic. • D. J. Modoono, 336 Marrett Road, had many concerns: 1. Independent noise report 2. Which way would tankers come 3. When are deliveries 4. Hours of operation 5. Design of pumps 6. Height of building 7. Location of transformer house 8. Lights 9. Traffic flow 10. Highest volume. • Joe Sirkovich, 294 Marrett Road, Concern with facility being nosier, brighter, many more fumes. • Margaret Heitz, 335 Marrett Road, concerned of the Clark School student safety. • Tanya Morrisett, 21 Valleyfield Street, general concerns addressed by Frank that they have been working hard with all of the committees so they do not ignore any of the concerns or issues presented. No one spoke in favor. The hearing was closed at 10:03 pm. During the discussion the Board took into consideration the recommendations of the various committee's reports. The Board reviewed the conditions listed below. Decision: On a motion by Martha Wood and seconded by Arthur Smith, the Board voted 5 to 0 to approve the Special Permit with the following conditions: 1. The Board noted the Noise by law and determined that it must be complied with. May 11, 2006 Minutes 9 2. Fuel deliveries are to made between the hours of 7Am to 9PM 3. No wooden guardrail, a fence instead shall be constructed between the site and property to the rear. 4. Owner shall comply with recommendations from #!1-3-4-5 from the Tree Committee. 5. All comments by the Design Review Team on March 22, 2006 shall be incorporated into plans. 6. Insulate transformer buffing for noise reduction. 7. Hours of operation — Store and gas - 6:00 AM until 11:00 PM; service — 7:00 am until 9:00 pm 8. No increase in pylon sign. 9. Owner will offer to install observation well on abutter's land at owner's cost and provide information on any sampling to abutter in a timely manner. 10. Lighting must meet requirement of lighting by -law. 11. No outdoor storage of tires or automobile parts. 12. No trash pick up between 11:00 PM and 6:00 AM. 13. Snow removal will be off site line if necessary. 14. Maintain and replace landscape as shown on plan. 15. Project shall be constructed as shown on the site plan submitted by Cumberland Farms and MHF Design Consultants dated April 7, 2006 MHF project # 171004 sheets 1 thru 10.