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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-09-16-PB-min PLANNING BOARD MINUTES MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 16, 2015 A meeting of the Lexington Planning Board, held in the Selectmen’s Meeting Room, was called to order 7:01 p.m. by Chair Nancy Corcoran-Ronchetti, with members, Tim Dunn, Charles Hornig, Richard Canale, and Ginna Johnson and planning staff Aaron Henry and Lori Kaufman present. *********************************STAFF REPORTS***************************** General updates: If any Planning Board Member wants to attend the CPTC fall workshops let staff know. th The zoning regulations are being updated by sections and will be ready for the October 7 meeting. *********************ZONING & LONG RANGE PLANNING*********************** POSSIBLE 2016 WARRANT ARTICLES Residential Policy Committee (RPC): th The Planning Board and RPC met on September 8 and discussed several initiatives for the th September 24public forum. Tree Bylaw Amendment (General Bylaw) The tree preservation group met and discussed the need for a tree summit regarding re-treeing the Town. The conversation included possible changes to the tree bylaw to protect large trees; requiring more appropriate trees for canopies instead of ornamental trees planted by developers; designating some streets as scenic roads to protect trees, stone walls and preserve street character; and trees on private land requiring a tree removal consultation. Neighborhood Conservation District (General Bylaw) This initiative has gone the furthest along and has a lot of support. The concept was to control what landowners could do with their property in these districts to preserve the character of those neighborhoods. Design and dimensional features would be controlled by an appointed commission and vary for each district. There should be a sunset clause for five to ten years. There are about seven neighborhoods that could qualify, three have already expressed an interest in creating a neighborhood conservation district. Dimensional control (FAR) (Zoning Bylaw) There is concern about teardowns and especially on smaller lots. State laws protect grandfathered non-conforming lots from future zoning changes and rules, which is why two different strategies exist for conforming and non-conforming lots. Page 2 Minutes for the Meeting of September 16, 2015 Potential changes could include a town-wide FAR, dimensional controls for nonconforming lots that are appropriate, and height restrictions on small lots. Charles Hornig, Michael Leon, Todd Cataldo and Tom Harden would decide what would be presented at the forum on this topic. Diversity of Housing Types (Zoning Bylaw) There are very few homes in Town that are available in between the wealthy and subsidized housing. Affordable housing, potential senior housing were topics people expressed an interest in discussing. This could be a good time to consider testing the waters to see if the community would accept two-family housing by right town-wide within the FAR limits, permitting multi-family homes in appropriate parts of town, and senior developments. The workshop is a good time to introduce to residents these initiatives and receive input to help the Planning Board determine what should be brought forward this year and what would be worked on for the next year. On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, 5-0, to bring forward the four initiatives as th discussed tonight to the September 24 housing forum. Center Business: Banking Moratorium: Some Planning Board Members and staff are moving forward with outreach and inviting landowners, banks, and others to come up with proposed solutions to the current situation with banks in the Center. The Board is looking at trends in banking and setting up meetings with banks to get a better understanding of how they operate. This will help the Board determine appropriate changes to bring about desirable changes to the Center. The Board requested that any hard data that is available be sent to planning staff to get a sense of how things are and how they might be five years from now. There will not be anything new to bring back to the Board until the second meeting in October. The short term issue is to deal with the bank moratorium as approved by the 2015 Annual Town Meeting and then look at long range planning for the Center. Audience comments:  Fred Johnson, a TMM and Center Committee Member, was at the meeting when Melisa Tintocalis, the Economic Development Officer presented some data for the existing conditions. Mr. Johnson met with three banks and would like to share that information with staff.  The Lexington Center Alliance (LCA) wants to be helpful and is willing to do whatever outreach the Board would like and provide data to help. The LCA is not against banks but there are some banks that have been giving back to communities and the Town should Minutes for the Meeting of September 16, 2015 Page 3 ask other banks to step up and contribute as well. The Board would appreciate any relevant data the LCA could share and forward it to Mr. Henry to distribute to the Board. Other: Mr. Henry proposed that by the first meeting in November it would be helpful if the Board could have fleshed out the articles that will be brought forward to the 2016 Annual Town Meeting. This would allow the Board to share with Town Meeting Members, the BOS, and other relevant boards and committees the initiatives the Planning Board plan to bring forward and would allow input at an early stage to address concerns from others. The main item on the list that is a concern is PILOP since Board has not seen anything to date and if no further information is available by th the end of October the Board should consider taking if off the table. October 7 the Board can discuss the forum outcome and decide what initiatives it wants the RPC to flesh out for the 2016 Annual Town Meeting. *******************PLANNING BOARD FORUM SEPTEMBER 24******************* th The Board reviewed the draft agenda for the public forum on September 24 and discussed how it will be presented and go into breakout sessions. The teardown data by Matt Daggett will be sent to Board Members for review and all comments should be sent to Mr. Henry prior to the forum. There was concern expressed about the lack of peer review and if Mr. Daggett’s report is not ready he will still do a presentation and give the public an update on the status of report which may be used at a future RPC meeting. *********************************BOARD REPORTS***************************** rd Mr. Canale said there is a meeting next Wednesday, September 23 at 6:00 p.m. at the postal sorting office that was sold on Smith Street in Waltham. ***********************************MINUTES********************************* On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, 4-0-1, (Ms. Johnson abstained) to approve the minutes for August 5, 2015, as submitted. ************* UPCOMING MEETINGS AND ANTICIPATED SCHEDULE************** The next meeting will include Willard Circle, a reduction in the performance guarantee, an updated plan on the Lincoln Street parcel, a public hearing on a special permit modification for st 11 Suzanne Road to be continued to October 21, a discussion on the results from the September th 24 forum, zoning regulations and banking. Other future items may include a Residential Page 4 Minutes for the Meeting of September 16, 2015 Development (RD) sketch plan, a determination if a modification to a driveway at 1371 Massachusetts Avenue is either a major or minor modification. ththnd The meeting schedule for the next few months will be November 4 and 18 and December 2 th and 16. The internal promotion for the Assistant Planning Director is official. Victor Panak is presently filling the planning position so the department is fully staffed at this time. Ms. Carol Kowalski the new Land Use and Development Manager will start October 5. On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, 5-0, to adjourn at 9:55 p.m. The meeting was recorded by LexMedia. The following documents used at the meeting can be found on file with the Planning Department:  Potential 2016 ATM Articles (1 page).  Public workshop for discussion of RPC initiatives Flier (1 page).  Public workshop proposed agenda (1 page). Ginna Johnson, Clerk