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PLANNING BOARD MINUTES
MEETING OF AUGUST 27, 2007
A regular meeting of the Lexington Planning Board was held in Estabrook Hall, in Cary Hall, and called
to order at 7:35 p.m. by Chairman Hornig with members Galaitsis, Canale, Manz, Zurlo and planning
staff McCall-Taylor and Henry present.
************************* ADMINISTRATION OF LAND DEVELOPMENT*****************
SUBDIVISION OF LAND
PUBLIC HEARING
88 – 110 Shade Street, Definitive Plan for Special Residential Development, Continued Public Hearing:
Mr. Hornig called the continued public hearing on the Shade Street definitive special residential
subdivision to order at 7:35 p.m. Present for the development team were Todd Cataldo of Sheldon
Corporation, Michael Snow, landscape architect of Meridian Associates, and John Gwozdz, landscape
architect also with Meridian. Mr. Snow presented the changes since the last meeting based on Planning
Board and abutter comments. These changes are as follows:
1. Easements on the north campus were enlarged and/or corrected to ensure that all utilities are
covered; and
2. The townhouses were changed to make the common wall more robust. This change increases the
size and site coverage of the units by approximately 180 square feet.
Board Comments:
Ms. Manz, who had missed the prior session of the public hearing on August 22, 2007 had reviewed the
videotape of that meeting and had supplied a notarized certification of her review so she was eligible to
deliberate on the matter before the Board. She indicated her support of Mr. Canale’s outline for tree
mitigation along Shade Street. Ms. Manz was not opposed to the revised connection but stated that she
also had no objection to the four-season room that was part of the previous submittal. She reiterated her
satisfaction with the mix of size and style of the proposed units.
Mr. Zurlo asked the applicant to explain the rendering that was provided to the Board by the applicant.
Mr. Cataldo described the handout as an at-scale depiction of what the property will look like from Shade
Street. This shows that the proposed heights of the structures are below the highest point of the only
direct residential abutter. Mr. Zurlo appreciated the effort but was hoping to see a more perspective
rather than the front elevation, but this was still very illustrative.
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Minutes for the Meeting of August 27, 2007
Mr. Canale expressed continued concern about whether or not these units would have basements or
cellars as defined by the Zoning Bylaw and how the answer may affect story and height limits. Mr.
Cataldo explained that applying the bylaw to the site results in all units having cellars, i.e., the lowest
level does not count as a story and that all dwelling in the south campus would be limited to 2 stories with
attics. The bylaw defines attics as space accessed via a pull-down stair as opposed to a permanent
stairway. The exception to this would be the townhouses that would be 2.5 stories tall as defined by the
bylaw, with habitable space on the upper floor.
Mr. Galaitsis stressed that he likes the clustering of the project, the large amount of open space and the
variety of sizes of the units. However, the revised connection is still not enough to convince him that this
is a single dwelling structure. He also voiced concern that the revised proposal did not provide for
secondary emergency access or decrease the number of dwellings as he had requested at a prior meeting.
Mr. Galaitsis returned to the issue of basements and cellars and wished to consider the lowest floor a
basement, i.e., a story, regardless of the bylaw’s definition, in order to limit the overall height of the units.
Audience Comments:
Steven Rauscher, of 47 Cary Avenue raised concerns about the construction impacts. Specifically raised
were how long was this to take, how would trucks access the site, where would material and debris be
stored, what are the traffic impacts on the area and who do they contact at the Town when they have
questions or concerns?
Dennis Daru, 109 Shade Street, felt that this project was a good alternative to a by-right, conventional
subdivision and that given the quality of Mr. Cataldo’s other projects he was pleased with this plan.
Mr. Christopher Needham of 84 Shade Street and a direct abutter of the project site echoed previous
concerns about construction impacts and hoped the Board would address it as part of approval.
Mrs. Rauscher, 47 Cary Avenue, also raised concerns about improved notification to neighbors when
details like a utility interruption are planned, as this was a problem with Mr. Cataldo’s development on
Cary Avenue.
The Board then voted to close the public hearing to begin deliberations on the application. Mr. Hornig
and Mr. Henry each read aloud the conditions that had been vocalized through the hearing, especially
Minutes for the Meeting of August 27, 2007 Page 3
important were conditions regarding traffic calming along Shade Street at the project site and on-going
construction updates to the neighborhood. The complete list covering the topics generally were:
Provide updated plans, easements, preservation restriction, stormwater operations and
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maintenance plan, homeowners association documents for review, endorsement and recording;
Repair/reconstruct stone wall in the right of way (ROW);
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Tree replacement along ROW;
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Building height in the south campus not to exceed a ridge height of 300 feet elevation (town
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datum), and further, that:
Attached and detached dwellings are limited two stories, 35 feet in height with pull down
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access to attics; and
Townhouses shall be unrestricted, i.e., 2.5 stories, 40 feet.
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No construction/worker parking on Shade or Cary;
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Access/egress to site shall be limited to the existing drive at 110 Shade and the proposed internal
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drive as shown on the plans; and
A construction notification plan to be approved by the Planning Director.
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Mr. Zurlo stated he wished the Board took a more aggressive position on the construction notification
plan and offered to assist staff during the review of the initial plan submission. Mr. Galaitsis expressed
his reservations about the project and his inability to allow it as is.
Mr. Hornig then accepted a motion to approve the Special Residential Development subdivision and
special permit with site plan review as proposed including the preceding conditions. The motion was
seconded and passed by 4-1 vote, with Mr. Galaitsis the dissenting member.
On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn the meeting at 9:40 p.m.
Wendy Manz, Clerk