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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-07-26 Joint SB and PB-min Joint Meeting Select Board and Planning Board July 26, 2021 A Joint Meeting of the Lexington Select Board and Planning Board was called to order at 8:44 p.m. on Monday, July 26, 2021 via Zoom meeting services. Present for the Select Board: Ms. Hai, Chair; Mr. Pato; Ms. Barry; Mr. Lucente; and Mr. Sandeen were present, as well as Mr. Malloy, Town Manager; Kelly Axtell, Deputy Town Manager; and Ms. Katzenback, Executive Clerk. Present for the Planning Board (PB): Charles Hornig, Chair; Robert Peters, Vice Chair; Bob Creech; Michael Schanbacher, Clerk; and Melanie Thompson. Town Staff present: Sheila Page, Town Planner; Ross Morrow, Assistant Town Engineer. Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. (VHB) transportation/civil engineering team members included: Trish Domigan, Senior Project Manager; Laura Castelli, Transportation Planning Task Manager; Christine Trearchis, Senior Transportation Manager; Geoffrey Morrison-Logan, Land Use, Placemaking, and Public Outreach; Brynn Leopold and Ian Banks from Nelson Nygaard, Parking and Transportation Demand Specialists; Nancy Farrell, Regina Villa Associates, Public Outreach. ITEMS FOR INDIVIDUAL CONSIDERATION 1. Update on Hartwell Innovation Park Complete Street Enhancement as Part of Hartwell 25% Design Assistant Town Engineer Ross Morrow stated that VHB was the winning finalist from the Request for Proposal (RFP) process conducted last winter. The geographic scope of the project area is Wood Street from Massachusetts Avenue down to Hartwell Avenue, as well as Hartwell Avenue from Hanscom AFB to Elrded Street, Eldred Street from Grove Street to Bedford Street, Hartwell Place, and Westview Street. The element scope includes traffic and transportation demand studies and proposals; multi-modal transportation that includes bicycle and pedestrian accommodations; parking plans; business corridor build-out projections; addressing environmental concerns; and public outreach. Ms. Domigan (VHB) stated that the purpose of the project is to get active transportation and Complete Streets components into the area. Ms. Trearchis (VHB) said that traffic volume data will not be collected during the 25% design phase; pre- Covid traffic counts will suffice until the 75% design phase is launched and those counts will confirm assumptions and determine whether any permanent shifts occurred due to the pandemic. MADOT crash data will be updated to inform safety recommendations and Complete Street designs. The team is scheduling a road safety audit with MADOT for the Bedford Street/Hartwell Avenue and the Hartwell Avenue/Westview Street intersections. All improvements will be multimodal based on safe and east pedestrian and bicycle accommodations. Ms. Domigan (VHB) said that State and Federal regulations for healthy transportation and engineering directives must be followed if the Town wants to ask for project funding from MADOT. Parking demand analysis will encompass both current and projected needs. Alternative modes of commuting to and from the Hartwell Avenue area will be incentivized. Ms. Domigan (VHB) noted environmentally sensitive wetlands as a greenspace resource as well as a challenge to design and development. Permitting will be done on a State and federal level with compliance to the Wetland Protection Act, the National Park Service (Wood Street) and Lexington Conservation bylaws. Ms. Domigan (VHB) said that, according to her projections, the project will be advanced the 25% design threshold by 2024. This will include the design Public Hearing with MADOT. The Town has formed a 25% Design Working Group to advance the project to that point. Public outreach will include a variety of virtual community meetings, a Public Hearings, business community meetings, community surveys, updates for Town staff and boards. Documents and other materials about the project will be fully-accessible. Ms. Domigan (VHB) stated that the functional design concept base mapping will be available in the first week of August. Once base mapping is done and the traffic analysis is complete, concept sketches of each of the corridors will be developed. In the next couple of months, alternatives will be drafted and presented for feedback. Mr. Peters (PB) is a member of the 25% Design Working Group. He asked if VHB had changed its assumptions about what a post-Covid work world will look like and asked what data points are being used to forecast the future. Mr. Morrison-Logan (VHB) replied that changes are indeed being seen, especially in housing, i.e., where people choose to live and work; and also with regard to commuting patterns. At the same time, there has been a surge in the high-tech industry in terms of Research and Development and the demand for incubator space. Findings from past Hartwell project consultants will be taken into account as well as emerging trends. Mr. Morrison-Logan said that the team, along with the Lexington Planning Department, intends to test out different build-out scenarios to understand the various impacts of a various land use proposals. Mr. Creech (PB) asked whether working from home rather instead of commuting to a Hartwell Avenue business location will be part of the plan VHB ultimately presents. Mr. Morrison-Logan (VHB) said trip generation and how people move to and within the area are parts of the equation. Ms. Castelli (VHB) said that traffic trends—specific to Hartwell as well as to the region—will be part of the investigation, as will conventional and alternative transportation scenarios. Business owners/managers will be surveyed about how their employees commute or if they work from home. Ms. Thompson (PB) asked if, in future, materials to be presented can be available prior to meetings so that it can be reviewed beforehand. Ms. Domigan (VHB) said the concepts can be provided and also posted in the Virtual Meeting Room being established for the process. The Town’s website will also be used and the members of the 25% Design Team will also be sources of information. Ms. Barry (SB) said that Eldred Street is now being included in the project’s geographic scope largely in recognition of public concern about the impacts of the project on that neighborhood. Ms. Barry noted that any improvements for Hartwell Avenue near Hanscom Air Force Base might be eligible for federal defense community infrastructure funding. Mr. Sandeen (SB) asked if the ideal for bike safety of separated pathways or the less ideal protected bike lanes or painted bike lanes for bicycle accommodation will be considered. The VHB team said they would consider separated facilities, raised pathways and wider spaced bike lanes in terms of traffic volume, safety, and Complete Streets criteria. VHB will also be considering potential policies regarding e-bikes. Mr. Sandeen (SB) stated that residents are highly focused on the goal of reducing traffic and asked whether the team would be starting their analysis with the objective of minimizing traffic and parking rather than starting from a goal of accommodating current or future high volumes of traffic and parking. Mr. Morrison-Logan (VHB) said that the different build out scenarios will consider variables like transportation and parking, reducing overall trips, maximizing multi-modal transportation; however, managing different expectations of different stakeholders will be challenging. Ms. Leopold (VHB) said that with parking it is often, if you build it, they will come. She said the team will recommend as little parking as can be managed. They will consider shared parking for complementary uses, they will consider ability to walk from one building to another, and will try to encourage alternate modes of transportation other than single-occupancy vehicles. Mr. Lucente (SB) said his big concern is how to plan for future transportation modes that are not yet known. He believes that since Hartwell is an Innovation Park, forward thinking will be essential. Mr. Lucente also noted the plans should remove the “H” (indication for a hospital) on map for the building located at Hartwell Avenue and Bedford Street so as to remove any confusion. That building is a medical facility but not a hospital in the traditional sense for which that indicator is used. Ms. Hai (SB) asked how much public outreach has been done to date and asked that the outreach be broad enough to pull in abutting neighborhoods which have expressed keen interest in the project. Ms. Domigan said abutting neighborhoods would most certainly be included. She reported that the team had a kickoff meeting with Town staff (April 2021) and a 25% Working Group meeting (May 2021). Two stakeholder meetings are scheduled for August and September and a public meeting will take place in September. The team will also alert the Town of Bedford. Ms. Hai reaffirmed this was just an update to the two Boards regarding the status of the Hartwell Avenue area project. The Planning Board adjourned their Board at 9:42 p.m. The Select Board continued onto their next item on for individual consideration as posted on Select Board July 26, 2021 meeting agenda. ACTION ITEM: VHB and Planning Department to schedule Public meetings. DOCUMENTS: Presentation—7/26/21 A true record; Attest: Kim Siebert Recording Secretary