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Home My WebLink About2014-02-26-PB-min PLANNING BOARD MINUTES MEETING OF FEBRUARY 26, 2014 A regular meeting of the Lexington Planning Board, held in the Selectmen’s Meeting Room, was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Chairman Charles Hornig, with members Richard Canale, Greg Zurlo, and Michelle Ciccolo, Nancy Corcoran-Ronchetti and planning staff Maryann McCall- Taylor, Aaron Henry, and Lori Kaufman present. *********************ZONING BYLAW AMENDMENTS ************************ PUBLIC HEARINGS Citizens Petition, Articles 27, 28, & 29: Mr. Hornig called the public hearing to order at 7:02 p.m. There were 30 people in the audience. Ms. Inga Magid the owner of “Keys for Kids” presented her citizen’s petition to allow for-profit educational uses in neighborhood business and residential districts, allow for-profit educational uses in neighborhood business and remove size limitations, and allow for-profit educational uses in the neighborhood business districts. Audience Comments:  Liked the diversity of options in the Town and it would be a shame to lose this school to another community and there was some support of some kind of rezoning to prevent this from happening.  There was opposition to changing all residential zoning throughout the Town.  This would be fine in the commercial districts only. Rezoning the entire Town would be opening a Pandora’s Box.  There were concerns about traffic and noise and therefore opposition to this rezoning.  There was worry about the children and the elderly and all the parking that would be created. Look for a commercial area and clarify the definition of a busy street.  RO and RS District should be exclusively residential homes and the mix would not be good, but the RT and CN Districts on Massachusetts Avenue would be acceptable.  If this was a nonprofit school would this be allowed? Yes nonprofit schools were allowed anywhere. On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted 5-0, to close the public hearing at 7:59 P.M. Page 2 Minutes for the Meeting of February 26, 2014 Planning Board Articles: Article 30: Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers (MMTC)/Registered Marijuana Dispensaries (RMD): Mr. Hornig called the public hearing to order at 8:01 p.m. There were 12 people in the audience. The purpose of this article was to rezone areas in the Town for MMTC before the moratorium on the location expired on July 31, 2014. The amendment would allow production, manufacturing, and distribution in the CM District and only distribution in the CRS and CB Districts. Audience Comments:  The key was accessibility and there was agreement that the CRS and CB Districts would provide that for distribution.  There was contention that this was not light manufacturing but plant growing and not production. That would be determined by the Zoning Enforcement Officers interpretation.  If public transportation was not available customers might be inclined to drive themselves when they should not be.  By placing the distribution in the Center it appears that Lexington is encouraging this use.  If there was a distribution center where Nourish was could the customers just light up there? This use should only be allowed in the CM District. On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted 5-0, to close the public hearing at 8:56 P.M. Article 31: Site Plan Review for Projects over 10,000 square feet: Mr. Hornig called the public hearing to order at 8:58 p.m. There were 10 people in the audience. This Article would seek to allow development in commercial districts through site plan review without having to obtain a special permit. The Board felt that this would be an important tool in creating more certainty in the development process, while still being able to impose adequate conditions. Audience Comments:  What would be the trigger for a major or minor site plan review?  There was concern that site plan review would not provide adequate protection since it could only be denied in extreme conditions where a special permit could be denied. It was recommended that Town Counsel be consulted. On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted 5-0, to close the public hearing at 9:12 P.M. Minutes for the Meeting of February 26, 2014 Page 3 Article 32: Technical Corrections: Mr. Hornig called the public hearing to order at 9:13 p.m. There were 10 people in the audience. This article allowed for corrections to be made that would not be substantive and proposed in hopes of making the bylaw more understandable. Typos would also be corrected. There were no comments or questions. On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted 5-0, to close the public hearing at 9:15 P.M. DELIBERATIONS Articles 27-29, Citizens petition: After deliberations and hearing concerns from residents the following modifications were made: A motion under Article 27 would add “Instruction in Music or the Arts, not to exceed 3,500 square feet of floor space per establishment” to the Table of Uses and to allow the use in the RT and CN Districts by special permit”, by right in the rest of the commercial districts, but not allow in the RO or RS Residential Districts. A motion under Article 28 would allow the development standard of 1,500 square feet for personal, business or general services uses in the CN District to be modified by special permit. Article 29 would be indefinitely postponed as this would be covered by Article 27. On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted 4-0-1, (Ms. Ciccolo abstained), to recommend favorable action on Articles 27 and 28 as modified and the indefinite postponement of Article 29. Article 30, MMTC/RMD: The Board discussed the challenge that would be to make the MMTC accessible to customers while trying to avoid any possible negative secondary effects. There was concern that if distribution were to be allowed in the CB District there would be a possibility that medical marijuana would be smoked on the benches in the Center and whether or not this could be addressed in the Board of Health regulations. On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted 4-1, (Ms. Ciccolo opposed) to recommend favorable action on Article30. Article 31, Site Plan Review: On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted 5-0, to recommend favorable action on Article 31. Article 32, Technical Corrections: On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted 5-0, to recommend favorable action on Article 32. Page 4 Minutes for the Meeting of February 26, 2014 ************************DEVELOPMENT REGUALTIONS ************************ Status Update: The public hearing for the subdivision regulations section of the development regulations will be on March 24, 2014 at 6:00 p.m. in the Parker Room. **********************************MINUTES*********************************** On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, 5-0, to approve the minutes of January 22, 2014, as submitted. ********************************STAFF REPORTS****************************** Tonight was Ms. Ciccolo last meeting as a Planning Board Member. The Planning Board Members and Staff thanked Ms. Ciccolo for her years of service and presented her with a gift. On March 12 the Economic Development Officer will update the Board on Parking Management and the Economic Development portion of the Comprehensive Plan. The Board will review the draft regulations, review the reports for Town Meeting, and endorse the mylars, tripartite agreements and accept performance guarantees for 4-6 Robinson Road and 495 Lowell Street. On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, 5-0, to adjourn at 10:27 p.m. The meeting was recorded by Lexmedia. The following documents used at the meeting can be found on file with the Planning Department:  Vote No for Article 27 from residents, submitted at the meeting (6 pages).  E-mail from George Whiteside, dated February 26, 2014 regarding Articles 27, 28 & 29 (1 page).  Letter regarding Articles 27, 28 and 29, dated February 23, 2014 from residents.  E-mail from residents, dated February 24, 2014 regarding Articles 27, 28 & 29 (2 pages).  Draft amended Zoning Bylaw for Article 30 MMTC dated February 26, 2014 (1 page).  Draft amended Zoning Bylaw for Article 31 Site Plan Review dated February 23, 2014 (1 page).  Draft amended Zoning Bylaw for Article 32 Technical Corrections dated February 19, 2014 (4 pages). Nancy Corcoran-Ronchetti, Clerk