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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-10-23-PB-min PLANNING BOARD MINUTES MEETING OF OCTOBER 23, 2013 A regular meeting of the Lexington Planning Board, held in the Selectmen’s Meeting Room, was called to order at 7:30 p.m. by Chairman Charles Hornig with members Richard Canale, Michelle Ciccolo, and Nancy Corcoran-Ronchetti and planning staff Maryann McCall-Taylor, Aaron Henry, and Lori Kaufman present. Greg Zurlo joined the meeting in progress. ************************DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION********************* 7 Mountain Road, sketch plan Balanced Housing Development: The applicant formally requested the withdrawal of the application dated September 3, 2013, for a sketch plan involving the property at 7 Mountain Road. The applicant would refile at a later date and new postcards would be sent to abutters. Mr. Zurlo joined the meeting in progress. 11 Lisbeth Street, Street Determination: Marissa Gray, attorney was present for the applicant. This application was reviewed and brought to town staff in June 2012. The house was located on a private way, but was not supposed to trigger the 50% demolition standard requiring Planning Board review for a street determination. In the end the structure required being torn down and reconstructed and when a Certificate of Occupancy was requested it was brought to planning staff for a street determination. The applicant believed the street was of adequate grade and construction. The closing for this property was scheduled for the end of October and time was of the essence in this matter. Board Comments:  The grade and width of the street were adequate, but some of the pavement was failing across the frontage of the house.  Lisbeth Street should be crack sealed for a distance of 125 Feet from the Lisbeth Street and Clelland Road intersection towards Massachusetts Avenue and the two areas of pavement at the top of Lisbeth Street should be cut out and replaced. This would need to be coordinated with and inspected by the Town Engineering Division.  The Board would waive strict compliance with the following provisions of the Planning Board’s Development Regulations and would grant the waivers for 175-68C(3)(a), Submission of a Definitive Street Construction Plan, 175-68E, Design Standards, and Page 2 Minutes for the Meeting of October 23, 2013 175-68F(2) Timing of Street Construction and Dwelling Construction. The applicant would need to complete the work before a Certificate of Occupancy was granted.  Should the applicant be unable to make these repairs before the conveyance date, the applicant may, with the prior approval of staff, provide a performance guarantee securing these improvements to allow the issuance of the Certificate of Occupancy,. On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, 5-0, that Lisbeth Street, near 9-11 Lisbeth Street, was not presently of adequate grade and construction to provide for the needs of the vehicular traffic and municipal services in relations to the proposed use, but would be provided the improvements proposed by the Planning Board were made. ***********************LONG-RANGE PLANNING AND POLICY ****************** Housing Production Plan Draft: The Board asked what would be the process and timeline for final comments on the draft and Planning Board’s endorsement. Mr. Henry said there would be a presentation to the Lexington League of Women Voters on November 1 and a meeting with the Housing Partnership Board on Thursday. This project should be wrapped up by the end of the year (when the grant would be over) and the Board of Selectmen (BOS) and the Planning Board would sign off on the plan. Tonight staff was looking for general comments and a direction from Board Members. After Board input the amended draft would go to the BOS for formal approval and back to the Planning Board for endorsement. Board Comments:  Wanted to see more rationale on the projected demographics going forward.  There were concerns that the data was flawed and needed further analysis.  MAPC data was not accurate for Lexington.  Data should be acquired regarding the trends where seniors were going and if they wanted to stay in Lexington?  There were too many inconsistencies for the Board to stand behind this draft and would be uncomfortable bringing this to the BOS for adoption.  Attention should be paid to the 10% SHI and opportunities taken to add a few units annually so not to backslide.  Ms. Corcoran-Ronchetti and Ms. Ciccolo would work with staff to address the inconsistencies of the draft and inform MAPC. Minutes for the Meeting of October 23, 2013 Page 3  Board Members should write to staff on what strategies should be moved forward in this draft. Hartwell Avenue, Digester RFP: The Board discussed the RFP for the Hartwell Avenue digester, which included the following comments:  There would need to be more community discussion since there was a strong lack of support from nearby residents and commercial property owners. There was concern that there was not adequate Town support.  The earlier comments from the Planning Board were responded to by the consultants as policy issues and not addressed.  Most of the criteria were not measurable; without any controls built in it would be difficult to get the required 2/3’s vote at Town Meeting for the rezoning so there would be no value to issuing the RFP.  Even though all the legal and technical words were correct it would be premature unless there was adequate community support. Audience Comments: Mr. Burnell said there was a lot of time spent on the Hartwell Avenue plan to encourage the commercial development and bring some bio pharmaceutical companies to Town. If hauling garbage was brought onto this site it would be a deterrent to getting bio technology firms to locate here, which would be a potential loss of revenues and the valuations of surrounding properties could become depressed. The process was not compatible with bio tech and that would be a problem in perception alone. Board Comments:  The only merits of an RFP would be to get a potential developer to provide details of what would be necessary to run an operation like this. Mr. Burnell said there was more technology information available then what was proposed in the draft RFP.  The business community in partnership with the EDAC and Economic Development Office does not want this. EDAC was vehemently opposed to this project for the whole town.  The consensus was that this would not be a good time to issue an RFP. On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, 5-0, the Planning Board would recommend to the Board of Selectmen not to issue the RFP for an organic waste processing facility until further discussion showed concrete and broad community support for such a use at the Hartwell Avenue landfill site. Page 4 Minutes for the Meeting of October 23, 2013 ********************************STAFF REPORTS******************************* Mark Barons the developer of the Lincoln and Middle Street Development (Ponywold) had requested a name change for the street from Ponywold to Ponybrook Lane. On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, 5-0, to consider this a minor change and accept the proposed change of name to Ponybrook Lane. Staff would look into getting new mylars for endorsement. ********************************BOARD REPORTS****************************** Ms. Ciccolo said the Moving Together Annual Conference to discuss Healthy Transportation was today and discussed best practices and adding transit to the mix. Mr. Canale requested a discussion of the South Lexington Transportation study be placed on the agenda in two weeks. Mr. Zurlo met with the 2020 group regarding how to interpret the survey to address the Planning Board needs. The survey will be distributed to Board members by the next meeting for discussion. Mr. Hornig said the Historic Districts Commission was interested in the house on 7 Mountain Road and would consider moving the house, but not having it overwhelmed by further development. *******************************ORGANIZATION******************************** The Board will meet on November 6, on 495 Lowell Street, 2020 survey, South Lexington Transportation, November 20, on 28-34 Robinson Road, and December 4, on 4-6 Robinson Road. The Board should send their availability for December and January to staff. On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, 5-0, to adjourn at 9:38 p.m. The meeting was recorded by Lexmedia. Minutes for the Meeting of October 23, 2013 Page 5 The following documents used at the meeting can be found on file with the Planning Department:  Letter from John Farrington, regarding 7 Mountain Road, dated October 3, 2013, requesting withdrawal of the sketch plan. (1 page)  Lexington Housing Production Plan Draft, dated October 2013. (69 pages)  Agenda Item Summary and Staff Recommendation regarding 9-11 Lisbeth Street. (2 pages) Nancy Corcoran-Ronchetti, Clerk