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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-06-18-PB-min PLANNING BOARD MINUTES MEETING OF JUNE 18, 2008 A regular meeting of the Lexington Planning Board in Cary Auditorium, Cary Memorial Hall was called to order at 7:37 p.m. by Chairman Hornig with members Zurlo, Manz, Galaitsis and Canale and planning staff McCall-Taylor, Henry and Kaufman present. Also present were Carl Valente, Town Manager, Norman Cohen, Chairman of the Board of Selectmen, Jeanne Krieger, Board of Selectmen, Susan Yanofsky, Economic Development Officer, Mollie Goldberg co-chair of the EDTF and several Town Meeting Members. ***************************HARTWELL AVENUE PUBLIC FORUM*********************** Public Forum on Commercial Development on Hartwell Avenue: There were approximately 50 people in the audience. Mr. Hornig explained the reason for this public forum was to discuss changes to the zoning to increase commercial development on Hartwell Avenue, which arose from the debate at Town Meeting on Article 53. The Planning Board has taken on the job of crafting the best possible plan to increase commercial development and then bring it before Town Meeting 2009. Mr. Hornig said the Board started developing a plan after the end of Town Meeting in May. Slides were shown to identify the study area that would be considered to have direct impact, which included all the CM zones and adjacent properties and a list of study topics the Board was considering. The Board of Selectmen’s Ad Hoc Vision 2020 Committee created the Economic Development Task Force. The Cecil Group consultants have been working on the draft report which should be ready this month along with a report from the EDTF focused on the issue of commercial development. Some quick facts about the Hartwell Avenue area: ?? Land area is 17,000,000 square feet; ?? Developable area is 6,600,000 square feet (38%); ?? There are 32 commercial buildings; and ?? The rentable floor area is 1,800,000 square feet. The next steps will include: ?? Working with the TMG (Traffic Mitigation Group) and the Board of Selectmen to find money for technical studies; Page 2 Minutes for the Meeting of June 18, 2008 ?? Scheduling another public forum in the fall as a workshop to discuss specific ideas; ?? Drafting proposed bylaw changes in the late fall; ?? Scheduling a public information session in January to present the draft; ?? Scheduling a public hearing in February to receive feedback on the draft; and ?? Bring a proposed bylaw change to Town Meeting between March and May. There were postcards with the planning email address and website available on the desk in the back of the room. Public Comments: The following list includes concerns raised by the residents: ?? Want to see quantitative results of previous TDM mitigations and their effectiveness; ?? Traffic light at Bedford Street and Eldred Road, no rezoning until that is underway to make it safe for workers and encourage the use of public transportation; ?? Poor sight lines, would not welcome an increase in volume of traffic; ?? Hard to get out in the morning and evening on Wood Street; ?? Want to know the kinds of traffic mitigation that can be imposed by the Planning Board; ?? The State proposed 20 years ago widening Bedford Street and the underpass; perhaps the plan could be resurrected since the state was concerned with backup on Route 128; ?? Employee sensitivity is needed such as to stop before turning and obey speed limit, ?? Sunday landscapers of commercial building blow the leaves across the streets onto the residents’ properties and create a mess; ?? North of the Hartwell area is a cut-through to Route 3, which is narrow and has no sidewalks, hilly and cars race through there; ?? Route 4/225 and Bedford Street are crowded into the base and Bedford Street. There can’t be a change immediately, but perhaps there can be another way into Hartwell Avenue from Route 128; ?? Improve the etiquette of drivers; ?? Noise from the Air Force base from helicopters, music and highway noise; ?? Need sidewalks on Hartwell Avenue and access to the bike path from Wood Street; ?? Bio-safety hazards; ?? Capacity of Hartwell Avenue is already stretched and Hartwell Avenue and Bedford Street are already backed up, full capacity on Hartwell Avenue may create grid lock; ?? Striping has caused backup onto Wood Street almost to Lincoln Labs; by doing the right thing Minutes for the Meeting of June 18, 2008 Page 3 made the situation worse; ?? In 1973 during the oil crunch people carpooled; encourage carpooling; ?? Spread the work schedule out, stagger work hours, get businesses to cooperate on work schedules ?? West Lexington Greenway will bisect the study area and businesses do not understand how this will impact them; ?? Hartwell Avenue would look better with three story buildings, which would expand the tax base and help fund education; ?? Staggering the work schedule would make it worse, there would always be traffic and be harder to work around peak traffic times; ?? A straw poll showed four audience members in favor of staggered hours and approximately 16 for keeping the peak hours shorter; ?? More public transportation such as a shuttle bus from Alewife and Woburn; ?? Rezoning to allow residential 4-5 story apartment buildings to spread out traffic; ?? Would like to see quantitative information that would reduce traffic, adjusted uses to increase value and reduce traffic; ?? There are a number of suggestions in the current TDM policies, try to incorporate them into the existing bylaws; ?? There is an erroneous assumption that traffic is currently acceptable on Wood Street. Zoning changes should be held up until the current situation is improved; ?? Cars are traveling at 50 MPH, cars passing over yellow lines, level of service is F. The goal is to create additional capacity and address current problems, traffic mitigation measures prior to the fall; ?? This is a static way to measure more square feet yields more traffic, instead consider higher density may open up other traffic mitigation measures. Mr. Hornig thanked the audience for attending and said it was an enjoyable and educational experience. The Planning Board took a five-minute recess. ***********************PLANNING BOARD ORGANIZATION, SCHEDULE***************** The June 24 meeting will be in the Selectmen’s Meeting Room at 8:00 a.m. Mr. Hornig will do essentially the same presentation and agenda as here tonight. Page 4 Minutes for the Meeting of June 18, 2008 Mr. Hornig stated that the meeting went very well. Mr. Galaitsis said the meeting went well because nothing was yet proposed, but people will have a lot more comments when the impacts are better defined eventually. Mr. Canale said this is being done to make the Town better and more liveable, but there are always tradeoffs. Ms. Manz suggested presenting alternative scenarios showing the tradeoffs and get feed back. There is a SLCA meeting on Monday evening at 6:00 p.m. with the Beal Company at 95 Hayden. ******************************** BOARD MEMBER REPORTS*************************** Mr. Canale said the Minute Man National Historic Park visitor survey found that park visitors spend time and money in Lexington and Concord. He also said that Arlington developed criteria for green site plan review. They use the LEEDS checklist without the certification. Mr. Zurlo asked if he could get a copy in the packets. Mr. Henry said it would be put in the packets when the Board talks about green development. On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn the meeting at 9:08 p.m. Wendy Manz, Clerk