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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-01-14-PB-min PLANNING BOARD MINUTES MEETING OF JANUARY 14, 2009 A regular meeting of the Lexington Planning Board in the Selectmen’s Meeting Room, Town Office Building was called to order at 7:30 p.m. by Chairman Hornig with members Manz, Canale, and planning staff McCall-Taylor, Henry, and Kaufman present. Mr. Galaitsis was absent and Mr. Zurlo joined the meeting in progress. *******************************TOWN MEETING************************************* Financial support of Town Transportation System (Lexpress): Ms. Dawn McKenna came before the Planning Board regarding her citizen’s petition to see if the Town would vote to amend the zoning bylaws of the Town of Lexington to require all building and rezoning proposals, except for as of right one and two family residential dwellings, to include financial support of the public town transportation system (Lexpress). She worked with the Board of Selectmen to craft a relatively broad article in hopes of incorporating it into what the Planning Board was working on. Before putting pen to paper to create the motion, Ms. McKenna wanted feedback from the Board. Mr. Hornig said that the Board was working only on a specific district and not a town-wide proposal. The fee discussed was only an alternative fee and could not be required, would be paid one time and made proportional to the impacts the development created. Mr. Canale said in the past the Town had not sought sufficient funds for transit including Lexpress but was unsure how this could be enforced. Unless there was better justification he might not support this proposed change to the zoning bylaw. Ms. Manz said the Board needed to be careful that this was not a fee or tax imposed, since that might not pass muster with the Attorney General’s Office. Instead of imposing standardized requirements, projects could have various conditions imposed within the TDM, for example a plan requiring a series of conditions to reduce the number of automobile trips to its facility. Ms. Manz also expressed concern about requiring a contribution for every development in perpetuity. Mr. Hornig said monies collected for TDM in the overlay district could be used for Lexpress and other items as best needed in the area. The plan for monies in the mitigation fund would be laid out and then the final decision would be made by Town Meeting. Page 2 Minutes for the Meeting of January 14, 2009 Warrant Articles and Descriptions: The Board reviewed and edited the warrant article descriptions and accepted the language to be submitted to the Board of Selectmen. Mr. Zurlo joined the meeting at 8:15 p.m. Transportation Management Overlay District (TMO): Mr. Hornig did a walk through of the two-page draft for the Board’s review. The plan would cover the overlay district at Hartwell Avenue and include the following: (1) The purpose; (2) The district superimposed over other districts; (3) Applicability; (4) Prior planning study required; (5) Transportation mitigation fees; and (6) Parking and traffic demand management. Board comments: Mr. Hornig asked the Board if they saw anything that was not addressed and needed to be. The prior planning study would require the list to be expanded to set forth goals of what was trying to be achieved. Mr. Canale asked about provisions of a special permit for an increase in the FAR and how to ensure capturing anything for the amount over and above the base value. Mr. Henry said the plan would set a base value for the allowed FAR. Mr. Hornig said that would be addressed in section 13 and a special permit could have individual conditions for different developments that would be outside of the plan. Mr. Canale asked about grandfathering should the state law change, feeling that there needed to be consideration for future changes that made it clear additional requirements for special permits could be imposed on a case-by-case basis Mr. Canale was also concerned with not imposing fees or costs twice. Audience Comments: Richard Thuma asked if it was clear in this language that the monies collected for the TMO could only be used exclusively for this district’s needs? Ms. McCall-Taylor said that this district was drawn to capture what would be generating the traffic and not necessarily the impacts. The idea was that there might be impacts outside the district that would be addressed if they were reasonably related. Mr. Hornig said the structure of the fund was a detail not Minutes for the Meeting of January 14, 2009 Page 3 worked out yet. Any fees collected in the TMO had to be expended for the benefit of the TMO district and must be related to Hartwell Avenue. Mr. Thuma said he was concerned that a plan might never be developed. There were so many groups in Lexington that claim ownership of the traffic management discussion and it was unclear who had jurisdiction. In the language it seemed monies could be put in a traffic mitigation fund and never be seen again; was there a way legally to directly link the monies paid in to be expended for a specific area? Mr. Hornig said if no plan was adopted then the old rules will remain the same. It was important the appropriations be done by Town Meeting. Mr. Thuma said it could be years before appropriations would be made and the impacts would be felt years before the mitigation would be done. Ms. Elaine Dratch said there was a conflict saying that mitigation fees would cover all the requirements for the TDM plan. TDM steps cost money and should not be taken out of mitigation fees. There should be language to acknowledge that under TDM additional fees to developers could be incurred for them to reduce single occupancy vehicle trips. Mr. Hornig said that the contributions to Lexpress proposed by the Beal Company for $10,000 annually discussed earlier was not a TDM measure because it would not control the amount of traffic to the facility, but rather a mitigation measure. Ms. Dratch said the Planning Board would develop the TMO district plan, but the Board as a whole does not acknowledge the work of the TMG and TMG would like more input then what would normally happen. Mr. Hornig said the Board discussed having an explicit requirement for consultation with the Board of Selectmen who work with their advisory committees and therefore the Planning Board would be working with TMG through the Board of Selectmen. Ms. Dratch asked if parking would be part of the plan or the zoning article, or would there no longer be a parking standard? Mr. Hornig said there would be a modified version of the parking standard in the plan to allow for flexibility, but the Board was not ready to determine a number. Mr. Frank Sandy was disturbed by the order things were being done. Why should Town Meeting be Page 4 Minutes for the Meeting of January 14, 2009 asked to vote on major changes to the bylaws without a plan in place? Mr. Hornig said that Town Meeting asked the Planning Board to find a way to facilitate commercial development. The Board would develop a plan with professional help using monies from the 2010 budget, possiblely in the time it would take for the Attorney General’s Office to approve the changes to the zoning bylaws. If a plan were to be developed first, the Town would be investing significant monies before knowing if Town Meeting wanted to pursue this. Mr. Canale said the Board would need to discuss at Town Meeting the elements of the plan as well as how priorities would be set. Mr. Sandy asked if the changes could not go into effect until Town Meeting ratified the plan. Ms. Sarah Arnold co-chair of the Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) said there was concern about infrastructure and more should be done to address the Town’s support for public transit. The Town has a TDM policy, which should also be referenced. Mr. Hornig said TDM would be incorporated as part of the plan. Mr. Sandy said there should be severability since there were concerns about approval by the Attorney General’s Office. If part of the plan was rejected what would happen to the whole plan? Mr. Henry said it would be on the books, but not be useable. Site Plan Review: The Board discussed the role of administrative staff in the review of site plans. *********************************** MINUTES**************************************** The Board reviewed and corrected the minutes for November 12, 2008. On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, 4-0, to approve the minutes as amended. The Board reviewed and corrected the minutes for November 19, 2008. On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, 4-0, to approve the minutes as amended. The Board reviewed and corrected the minutes for December 3, 2008. On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, 3-0-1 (Mr. Hornig abstained), to approve the minutes as amended. The Board reviewed and corrected the minutes for December 10, 2008. On a motion duly made and Minutes for the Meeting of January 14, 2009 Page 5 seconded, it was voted, 4-0, to approve the minutes as amended. ***********************PLANNING BOARD ORGANIZATION SCHEDULE***************** The Planning Board schedule is as follows: January 21, 341 Marrett Road public hearing; January 26, meeting with the Board of Selectmen; January 28, last discussion on the Hartwell Avenue initiatives before the public information session; February 4, public information meeting on Hartwell Avenue; February 11, Solly’s Way public hearing; February 18, prepare for the public hearing; February 25, public hearing on the citizens articles and technical corrections; March 4, public hearing on the Hartwell Avenue warrant articles; March 11, discussion to be determined; March 18 the TMMA zoning articles. *********************************** BOARD REPORTS******************************** Mr. Canale said the West Lexington Greenway met with a consultant to discuss the details of the proposed bike path and making it ADA compliant. Also discussed was an alternative path to Conestoga Road. Mr. Canale said last week MAGIC held a meeting in Lexington to discuss the Green Communities Act. On January 22at the Clark Middle School there will be a public meeting regarding Spring Street sidewalks. Mr. Hornig said there were some discussions with the Beal Company and the Town Manager about the Memorandum of Understanding regarding appropriate mitigations for the rezoning. Mr. Zurlo asked what was the TMG involvement in the process. Ms. McCall-Taylor said the Economic Development Office took that over. Mr. Canale said in the past TMG had an active role in overseeing the mitigation process, but at this point they have no role in the process. The Planning Board has a responsibility to Town Meeting to make recommendations on the policies and should weigh in. On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn the meeting at 10:42 p.m. Wendy Manz, Clerk