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PLANNING BOARD MINUTES
MEETING OF NOVEMBER 20, 2013
A regular meeting of the Lexington Planning Board, held in the Selectmen’s Meeting Room, was
called to order at 7:31 p.m. by Chairman Charles Hornig with members Richard Canale, Michelle
Ciccolo, Greg Zurlo and Nancy Corcoran-Ronchetti and planning staff Maryann McCall-Taylor,
Aaron Henry, and Lori Kaufman present.
************************DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION*********************
PUBLIC HEARING
28-34 Robinson Road, Definitive Site Sensitive Development:
Mr. Hornig called the public hearing to order at 7:32 p.m. There were 9 people in the audience.
Present were Todd Cataldo, applicant, Mike Novak, project engineer, and Jeff Thoma, landscape
architect from Meridian Associates.
Mr. Novak said the applicant was proposing a definitive site sensitive development. There
currently were two lots with two single-family dwellings to be demolished. The proposed project
would create three lots. The site slopes from west to east with the low point located in the eastern
portion of the site. Staff recommended additional monumentation along the lot lines at angle
points, which would be no problem. The three houses would have identical footprints of 2,700
square feet with drive under garages. Subsurface infiltration systems would be designed to handle
all the roof runoff and because the ground water was higher then anticipated the systems were
mounded and incorporated into the landscaping design. The houses would be located 60 feet back
from Robinson Road to match the abutting house to the left and a little forward of the abutting
house to the right. Mr. Cataldo said there was discussion with National Grid to possibly add gas
lines down the street, but if not propane would be used.
Mr. Thoma said the primary concern of this project would be to preserve as much of the lands
natural resources and existing trees as possible at the rear and the front edge of the site. A 200
foot buffer would be maintained to protect the existing woodland at the rear of the site, which
would save 1800 caliper inches of trees. The project would be supplemented with an additional
twelve 8-10 foot coniferous evergreens (white pines) for buffering. It would create a strong
landscape edge, preserve the character of the existing streetscape, and maintain the existing
mature canopy. The stonewalls, which were set back from Robinson Road would be to screen
Page 2 Minutes for the Meeting of November 20, 2013
storm water, recharge chambers, and create individuality of the lots. The tree counts showed 1800
caliper inches saved, 1245 total calipers removed and 55 caliper inches added, which would be
402 inches at maturity and showed only a 20 percent tree loss.
Board Comments:
The tree analysis was helpful.
It was suggested to use a mix of evergreen trees not only white pines for the side screens.
There was concern about drainage off the driveways and would all the roof runoff be
captured by the infiltration systems. The runoff would be reduced from what currently
exists today.
What would the retaining wall be constructed from? Modular concrete block walls.
Increase the number of the proposed trees to be planted from 55 caliper inches to 78
caliper inches. The additional amount of trees could be planted anywhere, but
recommended placement would be in front of the retaining wall in the back of the site or
in front of the site if any existing public trees need to be removed as part of the Town’s
sidewalk project. The final location of perimeter plantings intended to serve as screening
to abutters maybe adjusted in the field with the written prior approval of planning staff.
The minimum distance between the proposed houses should be 36 feet between
foundations within the site.
Foundation drains, if any, may not drain to daylight.
The plans must reflect the inclusion of the interior lot pins.
If not required otherwise by the Building Code, the top of the eight foot retaining wall
must be protected from fall hazards before a building permit maybe issued.
All conveyances of deeds must include the maximum gross floor area and impervious
surface limits associated with each lot, subject to approval of the Planning Department
staff.
Audience Comments:
How would the tree scape look after Town’s sidewalk project was done? It was explained
that while trying to work with the Town’s preliminary plan it would be hard to determine
what the final tree scape would look like.
On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, 5-0, to close the public hearing at 8:21 p.m.
On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, 5-0, to grant a special permit for a Site
Sensitive Development plan for 28-34 Robinson Road with the conditions discussed.
Minutes for the Meeting of November 20, 2013 Page 3
The Board would expect to see an ANR plan after the appeal period to come forward to divide
these three lots.
45 Earl Street, Street Determination:
Pam Brown, attorney was present for the developer who submitted an application for a street
determination for 45 Earl Street. A house was to be built on a vacant lot. The street was in
excellent condition and appeared to be of adequate grade and construction.
On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, 5-0, that the Planning Board determined Earl
Street in the vicinity of 45 Earl Street was of adequate grade and construction and waived all the
requirements from the Regulations for the submission of a street determination.
**********************************ZONING***********************************
430 Concord Avenue:
Present were Ed Grant, attorney, Jay Hicks, senior vice president of Artis Senior Living, Mike
Novak, project manager, and Gary Larson, landscape architect to informally discuss the proposed
project at 430 Concord Avenue rezoning for the Annual Town Meeting. The Board advised Mr.
Hicks that this appeared to be rushed since the PSDUP would be due next month and the
Planning Board only had one meeting left for the applicant to submit a draft PSDUP for the
Boards consideration. Mr. Hicks gave a general presentation on the proposed project, which
would be a 72 bed Assisted Living Facility. Board Members said the site and use seemed
appropriate, but the time frame was very restrictive considering all the issues that would need to
be addressed. The deadline to submit materials to the Planning Board would be December 4,
2013, to be put on the December 11 meeting agenda.
Tracer Lane update:
Ms. McCall-Taylor met with the property owner and the attorney who requested that the property
remain unzoned for six months until a suitable plan for the property could be proposed. The
Board agreed to wait six months and would consider it for a possible Fall Special Town Meeting.
***********************LONG-RANGE PLANNING AND POLICY ******************
Vision 2020 Committee Survey Results:
The Board discussed what additional data would be useful and determined that fine tuning the
available data would be more helpful then getting additional information. The categories that
Page 4 Minutes for the Meeting of November 20, 2013
were rated very high were a vibrant downtown and economic development. The Board said it
would be helpful to know who was responding to the survey regarding how active the
respondents were in the community and their education level, and having the data available on
spreadsheets for review in the future.
************************DEVELOPMENT REGUALTIONS ************************
Progress Update:
On January 22, there will be a public hearing on the development regulations and with Mark
Bobrowski present.
**********************************MINUTES***********************************
On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, 5-0, to approve the minutes of October 23,
2013, as amended.
********************************BOARD REPORTS******************************
Mr. Canale discussed items on the FY15 CPA project list to be considered at tomorrows meeting.
Open space at Hennessy Field was on the list because a group of citizens requested that the Town
acquire the property for open space by using tax payer’s monies. The Conservation Commission
should be consulted regarding any use for this land and then should be evaluated based on the
Commissions responses.
Mr. Zurlo said the Sustainable Lexington Committee would like to discuss ideas from the
Baltimore Zoning Bylaws regarding protecting the environment and encourage sustainable energy
with the Planning Board. The Committee would like to meet in January with the Board to have a
conversation on potential bylaw changes.
*******************************ORGANIZATION********************************
The Board will meet on December 11, for a public hearing on 4-6 Robinson Road, discuss the
regulations and any warrant items for Town Meeting. The meeting dates in January will be
determined after staff receives Board Members January availability. This coming January the
Board will change the meeting start time to 7:00 p.m. and see how it works.
On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, 5-0, to adjourn at 10:27 p.m.
Minutes for the Meeting of November 20, 2013 Page 5
The meeting was recorded by Lexmedia.
The following documents used at the meeting can be found on file with the Planning Department:
Agenda Item Summary and Staff Recommendation, regarding 45 Earl Street, dated
November 5, 2013. (1 page)
Vicinity map for 45 Earl Street. (1 page)
Letter from Pamela Brown regarding 45 Earl Street, dated October 31, 2013. (1 page)
Agenda Item Summary and Staff Recommendation, regarding 28-34 Robinson Road,
dated November 1, 2013. (2 pages)
Memo from Engineering regarding 28-34 Robinson Road, dated November 18, 2013.
(1 page)
Cover letter and application for 28-34 Robinson Road, dated October 2, 2013. (3
pages)
28-34 Robinson Road Development plan set, dated October 2, 2013. (10 pages)
Tracer Lane Unzoned Parcel Area Map dated November 15, 2013. (1 page)
FY15 CPA Project list. (1 page)
Cover letter from Jay Hocks of Artis Senior Living, dated November 15 regarding
430 Concord Avenue. (5 pages)
Cover letter from Meridian Associates, dated November 15, 2013 regarding 430
Concord Avenue. (1 page)
Early Concept plan dated November 15, 2013, regarding 430 Concord Avenue. (1
page)
Nancy Corcoran-Ronchetti, Clerk