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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-06-17-PB-min PLANNING BOARD MINUTES MEETING OF JUNE 17, 2015 A meeting of the Lexington Planning Board, held in the Selectmen’s Meeting Room, was called to order 7:00 p.m. by Chair Charles Hornig, with members Nancy Corcoran-Ronchetti, Tim Dunn, Richard Canale, Ginna Johnson, and planning staff Aaron Henry present. *********************************STAFF REPORTS***************************** General updates:  Update on Banking Moratorium from the Lexington Center Alliance.  List of Board and committee liaisons was in the packet.  The LexHab Fairview project ground breaking would be on July 13 in the afternoon the Board was invited  BOS discussed parking changes in CB district on June 10 want the Planning Board to look at it.  Comments on 17 Colony petition, a packet on turning restrictions, and comments from Michael Leon were included.  A Planned Development district will be filed for Spring Town Meeting the Board will see a sketch in September.  The annual Registry of Deeds and Land Court sign off sheets need to be endorsed by the Board. ***********************DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION********************** CONTINUED PUBLIC HEARING 17 Colony Road, definitive subdivision plan: Mr. Hornig called to order the continued public hearing for 17 Colony Road. Ms. Pat Nelson, attorney, Dan Solien, landscape architect, by cell phone, Mr. and Mrs. Anderson, and Mr. Mike Kosmo, engineer. Mr. Anderson described a short history of their ownership of the land, the lots status, and described the process they’ve had to go thru to get to this point. The main concern was the Board’s requirement of the preliminary plan to include a sidewalk. The first definitive hearing, the Board requested more input from the neighbors regarding making the street one-way and the sidewalk. There was no support for either idea by the abutters as stated in the two petitions. Given this, the applicant hoped to avoid the sidewalk since it would fundamentally change the area they lived in for over 20 years. Page 2 Minutes for the Meeting of June 17, 2015 Ms. Nelson asked if there’s no sidewalk built how could this road be made safer for pedestrians? Some suggestions offered were repaving the street which would improve the conditions, would be a little wider than before, and the shoulder created would offer some sanctuary for pedestrian. The Anderson’s would be willing to do something more in front of their site for a pedestrian step off. There was also a conference call with the Town Engineer, the project Engineer, and Planning staff. Most of these issues could be addressed as conditions for endorsement, with an exception if the sidewalk was to be included. In response to the comments on the landscape plan, the tree protection technique was modified, only the Norway maples would be removed (85 total inches to be removed), substituted 3 red maples instead of Washington hawthorns. The ground cover in the disturbed areas would be native ground cover rather than shrubs to enable the use of the shoulder for pedestrian. Board Comments and Questions:  Was there communications with 39 Colony Road where many of the maples were regarding their removal? There were no objections from the property owner.  How would runoff be kept out of the driveways? That would be addressed with Engineering.  It was suggested Pennsylvania sedge as a ground cover.  Confirm the regrading of driveways? This should be listed as a conditions of the decision.  Was there any thought of a 16 foot way with a four foot sidewalk? No.  The 20 foot ROW should be reallocated between the 2 uses, but am comfortable with it presently. Mr. Hornig filed an affidavit on 17 Colony Road with the Town Clerk since he was currently working with Ms. Patricia Nelson on personal business. Mr. Hornig also submitted a Mullins Rule affidavit with the Planning Department so he could participate and vote on a decision for 17 Colony Road.  Need more detail on the shoulder? Could it be walked on or a refuge? A refuge.  Was the primary reason for no sidewalk was the runoff and grading? Yes, but also the character of the street.  The regulations require a prohibition of parking on this street, would that be desirable to the area? Applicant doesn’t control the way enough to prohibit parking on the street legally. Minutes for the Meeting of June 17, 2015 Page 3  Would you be willing to prohibit parking in front of the lots you do control? No, it seemed unfair to burden these lots only. Audience comments and questions:  Could the shoulder be stone? Yes.  Not supportive of the 16 foot wide street plus a four foot sidewalk because it would preclude parking.  Make sure water flow does not go onto abutter’s properties.  Why were the Andersons responsible for these improvements? The subdivision control law or street determination would require this evaluation.  It was not fair that the Board of Selectmen removed the signage for turning restrictions. The Planning Department can direct you to the process to possibly restore the signage.  Opposed to a sidewalk because we are below the road level, and the water would flow into our property as well as melting snow.  Leave Colony Road as is.  What would happen to my forsythia bushes in front of the house? The applicant could replant if necessary.  The status quo of the road was naturally calming to traffic. If the street was improved greatly, the cut through traffic may increase.  How much wider will the road get? About 2 feet.  Stone wall on edge of pavement, would it be affected? No.  Upset that I’m losing land, will I be paying less taxes? I’m losing a lot of driveway. No effect on taxes, as all improvements are in the right of way,  It was unanimous that the area doesn’t want the sidewalk was it possible to ask the same on the improvements in general?  Are you still hoping to sell to one person? A year ago we tried to sell it as is, but no takers. This process was to clarify that for the next owners. Board Comments: The Chair tried to clarify what could be done tonight, given that there are several items he was uncomfortable making a decision tonight (not all waivers and conditions were complete). Inclusion of sidewalk and width of pavement are the principal issues. The Board discussed its points of concerns as follows:  Accept the street adequacy as is;  The condition of the pavement; Page 4 Minutes for the Meeting of June 17, 2015  Consider the safety of all users of the road pedestrians, bicyclists, motor vehicles and vehicles to service the houses;  The width of road for emergency access;  Whatever would be done on the road now would be forever and should be solid;  If there were no parking restrictions, the street width should have 20 feet of pavement and a three foot sidewalk on south side; and  There would need to be reconstruction of the roadway at certain parts (not a patchwork job). Audience comments and questions:  Could this roadway just be repaved within the existing boundaries? It could be an option.  Why include the sidewalk? Because our regulations require it.  There’s never been a pedestrian/bike accident. This would accomplish very little at a significant cost. Board comments: The area was so non-conforming that it would be difficult to add a sidewalk today, but perhaps in the future one could be built, but not sure how it would get there. There were no sidewalks to connect to here and was complete as is. The Board took a straw poll and were all in favor of on an 18’ foot wide road reconstruction with continuous minimum two foot wide shoulder on the south side. More details would be needed for a final approval. The plans would need to reflect all conditions discussed. On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, 5-0, to continue the public hearing to July 1 at 7:00 p.m. in the Selectmen’s Meeting Room *********************ZONING & LONG RANGE PLANNING*********************** Update on Banking Moratorium: Mr. Hornig explained that Town Meeting approved a moratorium on Banks in the Center to allow for a Planning process to decide what should be done by reaching out to the community and property owners and educate everyone on the issues and how to address the issues of banks or what would be the right direction. Tara Pellia, introduced the “Lexington Center Alliance”, which was concerned with the number of businesses leaving the Center. Their goals were to reach out, educate and engage residents, explore solutions reaching out to other communities, and pursue businesses (recruitment). Minutes for the Meeting of June 17, 2015 Page 5 Marissa Keirney, said we have visited all businesses in the Center, and spoke with as many owners as possible to understand their issues. The consensus was residents feel that there are too many banks and would prefer more specialty stores. Businesses reported that rents were very high compared to other similar areas and have too many restrictions. Property owners said they could get the high prices because the market would bear them and banks were easy to rent to. It was understood that many of these issues were discussed over the years, and hoping to now reenergize those efforts. The group was exploring a small business outreach group to attract other business owners to come to Lexington. Inessa Manning also reached out to over 12 communities on what problems they had and the solutions they came up with. Lexington was not unique and other communities struggled with similar problems. We want to be part of the solution. Alice Mead said we want the Center to be vibrant. Now there would be more space available at Muzzey with the senior center being moved and consider opening up a bank mall and not set up a moratorium so we could open up twelve new vibrant retail spaces. Mr. Hornig explained just for context there are only twelve Banks of 132 retail spaces. This has created an unlevel playing field for a business mix in the Center. Something broader would be need to be considered like the vision for the Center. The Board was looking at collecting data and speaking with stakeholders regarding banks. After that information has been obtained consider what would be the next step. This was a great start and try to maintain the energy on this matter and try to look at what the vision should be. Other Towns have been looking at pop up retailers and see if landowners would like to host some events that would be engaging for visitors and residents like presenting an artist’s work for a month. There seemed to be interest by some landowners. Building heights and rezoning were they possible options? There has been a lack of support from Town Meeting for those options. The Board appreciates the effort and don’t give up. There was a power point that the committee submitted to the Planning Board that was included in the meeting packet. The moratorium was only a stop gap there needs to be a vision for the Center and communication with the banks to see what they would feel would make the Center more Page 6 Minutes for the Meeting of June 17, 2015 vibrant so everyone would benefit. Have a point person who would work with staff and come to meetings to give updates. ***********************DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION********************** ANR 138 Laconia Street, Approval not required: Ms. Johnson recused herself since she was an abutter. On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, 4-0, to endorse the proposed ANR plan as it does not show a subdivision. Update on Zoning Regulations: The staff intends to have a version in the packets for the July 1, 2015 with a hope to have them adopted at the following meeting. *********************ZONING & LONG RANGE PLANNING*********************** Update on Residential Policy Committee (RPC): Ms. Johnson briefly described the meeting of the Residential Policy Committee on 6/9/15. Hope that people look specifically at the proposed initiatives. The next meeting will be 6/23/15 at 201 Bedford Street, DPW, Cafeteria at 7:15 p.m. *********************** ORGANIZATION AND SCHEDULE************************ Committee Assignments: The Board will discuss the assignments and any changes that Board Members would like to change at the next meeting. The Board will meet July 1 & 15 and August 5 & 19. One of the August meetings could be on a joint meeting on a Saturday to look at approved developments in the past 3-5 years and representative teardowns in the field to give the Board a sense of what was successful. ********************************BOARD REPORTS***************************** MPO has released both the TIP and Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) documents for public review. The TIP includes the Massachusetts Avenue project, the LRTP will include the Hartwell Area Plan. Mr. Canale will be looking for the community to provide letters of support for these projects. The Battle Road Scenic Byway is almost ready for a logo. The BOS held a listening session on the proposed lights at Woburn Street and the Streetscape Plan. Mr. Canale expects the Board would continue to support this intuitive. Minutes for the Meeting of June 17, 2015 Page 7 ***********************************MINUTES********************************* On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, 5-0, to approve both sets of minutes for May 20, 2015, as submitted. *********************** ORGANIZATION AND SCHEDULE************************ Election of Officers: The Board held its annual election of officers. The floor was opened for nominations and Ms. Corcoran-Ronchetti was nominated as chair, Mr. Dunn as vice chair, and Ms. Johnson as clerk. There being no further nominations, the nominations were closed. The slate of officers was elected by a vote of 5-0. The Board thanked Mr. Hornig for his four years of service as chair. On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, 5-0, to re-appoint Michael Leon as the Associate Planning Board Member. On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, 5-0, to adjourn at 10:30 p.m. The meeting was recorded by LexMedia. The following documents used at the meeting can be found on file with the Planning Department:  Memorandum from staff dated June 13, 2015 regarding Laconia Street property ANR (1 page).  Laconia Street Plan of land (1 page).  Staff Summary and Recommendations regarding 17 Colony Road, dated June 12, 2015 (2 pages).  Upcoming meetings and items (1 page).  Submission regarding 17 Colony Road, dated June 12 2015 from Richard and Frances Curtis (31 pages). Timothy Dunn, Clerk