HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-11-17-PB-min
PLANNING BOARD MINUTES
MEETING OF NOVEMBER 17, 2008
A regular meeting of the Lexington Planning Board in the Planning Office, Town Office Building was
called to order at 6:30 p.m. by Chairman Hornig with members Zurlo, Manz and Canale and planning
staff McCall-Taylor present.
******************************SPECIAL TOWN MEETING******************************
The Board discussed the articles that would be before the Special Town Meeting and whether there were
any on which the Board wanted to make a recommendation. Ms. Manz reported that the Community
Preservation Committee was supporting the acquisition of land for conservation purposes. She said that
by law any land acquired as open space using funds from the Community Preservation Act would have to
be placed under a conservation restriction. On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to support
Articles 5 and 6 dealing with acquisition of conservation land using Community Preservation funds. The
Board also voted to support the budget transfer of $40,000 to the planning expenses budget to be used for
technical expertise in the study of the Hartwell Avenue area.
Mr. Hornig gave an outline of the comments he would make under the Article 1 reports. He said he
th
would announce the December 10 meeting when the Hartwell proposals would be rolled out.
*****************************HARTWELL AVENUE AREA STUDY***********************
The Board discussed dimensional control standards for the CM district based on the following table
offered for discussion purposes:
Current Proposed Comment
Lot area (minimum) 130,689 s.f. 130,680 s.f. No change
Frontage (minimum) 200’ 200’ No change
Side & rear yard setback/ 30’ side, 50’ rear/ 25’, 25’/ Waiver by Special Permit
Landscaping (minimum) 0 0
Residential district setback/ 100’ 50’
landscaping (minimum) 50’ 50’
FAR (maximum) 0.15 0.35 Waiver by Special Permit
Site coverage (maximum) 25% NR Discourages structured pkg.
Height 80’ by Special Permit; ratio is
Stories 3 NR (2x distance to centerline of
Feet 45’ 60’ street) to (height, including
Ratio NR 2.5 mechanicals)
Site Plan Review >10,000 s.f. GFA always Currently special permit as well
Page 2
Minutes for the Meeting of November 5, 2008
Mr. Hornig reiterated his belief that special permits should be special and that more should be allowed by
right with the protection of site plan review. Mr. Zurlo wanted to revisit the financial aspects to determine
what baseline FAR would be effective in encouraging more development. Mr. Zurlo asked for the status
of all planning topics to be tabulated together in the future to clarify where there was consensus on the
Board and what remained open for discussion.
In the discussion of height it was agreed that stories did not need to be regulated. At the same time some
Board members felt that buildings above the height defined as “high rise” would not be acceptable,
although they felt it was better to go up rather than out. The Board and staff will investigate the
appropriateness of using a ratio calculation as a tool to determine height. While site plan review will be
the topic of another meeting, it was thought that there might be differentiation between major and minor
projects.
On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to recess to the Special Town Meeting at 7:24 p.m.
and to adjourn at the end of the session.
Wendy Manz, Clerk