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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-11-18-EDAC-min Town of Lexington Economic Development Advisory Committee (EDAC) Minutes of Meeting of November 18, 2015 EDAC A meeting of the was held on Wednesday, November 18th at 8:05 a.m. in the Parker Room of the Town Office Building at 1625 Mass Ave. Members Present : John McWeeney, George Burnell, Narain Bhatia, Sig Tullman, Kevin Maguire , and Tom Dusel, Larry Smith, Bob Richards Liaisons Present: Charles Hornig, Joe Pato (Board of Selectmen), Peter Kelley (Board of Selectmen) Staff Present: Carol Kowalski, Melisa Tintocalis Members Absent: Lelani Foster, David Pronchick, Rick DeAngelis Action Items: Follow up with Bryan Koop/BP regarding 17 Hartwell (Melisa) Invite Hanscom Representative to EDAC (Melisa) Create a FAQ of what can be done in Hartwell under new zoning (Melisa) Set up meeting with new Shire senior management; connect with Bob Richards (Melisa) The meeting was called to order at 8:05 a.m. and the following items were discussed: Approval of Minutes The committee members approved the October 2015 minutes with the correction that Kevin Maguire was present. Review of the Ground Breaking at Hartwell John McWeeney reported on the King Street Properties ground breaking at 115 Hartwell Avenue that took place on October 28th. King Street will begin construction on an 80,000 SF lab and office building adding a fourth building to their campus named The Hartwell Innovation Campus or “THINC”. Melisa Tintocalis played the project’s promotional video that highlights its Lexington location and the REV as an alternative source of transportation. Carol Kowalski and Melisa also reported that at the groundbreaking they met Travis McCready, the new President of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center and were invited to visit LabCentral, a life sciences incubator, in Kendall Square. Narain Bhatia expressed interest in learning of the MLSC’s initiatives as well. Review of the TMOD and Hartwell Zoning Aaron Henry, Planning Director, presented of the evolution of the Hartwell’s zoning. He described that in the early 80’s there was an effort to limit growth that resulted in zoning by-laws that restricted development and limited the floor area ratio to 0.125. In addition, there was also a zoning provision that was commonly referred to as the “transportation trip wire” that required any new development project which increased traffic to make significant improvements to the main intersections at Hartwell Avenue and Bedford Street. New zoning that was adopted in 2010 which increased the FAR to .35 and added the Transportation Management Overlay District allowing for developers to make a contribution to a fund that would, over time, grow and pay for infrastructure improvements. In addition, the Planning Board is now responsible for site plan review and additional dimensional relief could be sought through a special permit. The committee members discussed the need to communicate to developers what can be done under the new zoning. Tom Dusel suggested reviewing how Waltham has worked with their new zoning. Other Business/Updates Tom Dusel reported that Merck is selling the Cubist buildings and may lease back portions. At this point there is no expectation that Merck/Cubist will pursue an infill development project nor augment the footprint of the existing buildings. Hobbs Brook and Boston Properties may be considering the acquisition of this site. Tom also stated that Hobbs Brook has secured a lease with Shire for the current Vista Print site at Ledgemont. He stated Ledgemont 3 is still under litigation. The committee also discussed their concern that Shire opted to lease space over building two permitted buildings due to complaints by neighbors over noise. Narain Bhatia encouraged the committee members to think how the committee can be more proactive and help address issues similar to Shire. at 9:45AM Meeting Adjourned: Next meeting: December 2015