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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-02-17-PB-min PLANNING BOARD MINUTES MEETING OF FEBRUARY 17, 2022 Minutes of the Lexington Planning Board Held on February 17, 2022, Virtual Meeting at 6:00 pm Present: Charles Hornig, Chair; Robert Peters, Vice-Chair; Robert Creech; Melanie Thompson; and Michael Leon, Associate Member. Also present were Sheila Page, Acting Planning Director; Carol Kowalski Assistant Town Manager for Land Use; Sarah Felton and Chris Herbert, co- chairs for the Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee; and Martha Lyon and Daphne Politis, consultants. Michael Schanbacher was not present at the meeting. Charles Hornig, Chair, called to order the meeting of the Lexington Planning Board on Thursday, February 17, 2022, at 6:01 pm. For this meeting, the Planning Board is convening by video conference via Zoom. LexMedia may broadcast this meeting live and will record it for future viewing. Detailed information for remote participation by the public may be found on the Planning Office web page. Mr. Hornig conducted a roll call to ensure all members of the Planning Board and members of staff present could hear and be heard. Mr. Hornig provided a summary of instructions for members of the public in attendance. It was further noted that written materials for this meeting are available on the Town's NovusAGENDA dashboard. **********************BOARD ADMINISTRATION************************ Discussion: LexingtonNext Comprehensive Plan, Implementation Plan Volume 1: Ms. Kowalski explained the concept of the comprehensive plan and its requirements. Mr. Herbert and Ms. Felton discussed the process they followed, the role of the committee and the consultants, and where they are right now. Ms. Politis presented the format and structure/outline of the draft plan as it exists now especially Volume 1 which includes the executive summary, introduction, plan foundation, implementation plan (heart of the plan), and appendices. She presented information on the implementation plan which is based on the goals, the organization of the goals, how to address the issues, questions to consider, and documented representative voices that have been heard from the different forums. She showed how the goals of the Select Board, Planning Board, and relevant Town goals and objectives align with the comprehensive plan goals and guiding principles which are charted and would be reviewed at a later time. Ms. Politis said she was looking to the Planning Board for what should be an end note or footnote. Planning Board Comments and Questions:  Mr. Hornig said this is very oriented towards a print document presentation and st not a modern document in the 21 century with hyperlinks. It was difficult to go back and forth for the endnotes on a computer. Do we want people to absorb this information through print or on a computer application with modern hyperlinks presentation or should we do both? He had some concern with priorities and said Page 2 Minutes for the Meeting of February 17, 2022 they should use language that is clearer about how the priorities are viewed. He was not comfortable duplicating things and how conflicting items in different sections were presented.  Ms. Thompson said she requested a hard copy and finds it easier to read a large document on a hard copy and has a more difficult time on the computer. She said the printed copy looked good to her, but thought that it should be cut down a little bit, but liked the look of it, the style, topics, and overall in print it is impressive. Ms. Thompson thanked the staff for getting the printout for her.  Mr. Creech said this is a very readable document and no page is overwhelming. This is structured extremely well and is a useable document to give to any team to understand and have a lot of information to work with. He liked repeating things in the different sections throughout the document and how it came to be and likes it in the current form.  Mr. Peters said he has been using the PDF online and believes the document should be available in two formats. Using some of the electronic formatting and being able to hyperlink to various sections would be more effective for some users. He appreciated the work being put into this and it is a positive well- presented document for the community. He was able to find the actionable items for the goals and recommendations to be considered for potential bylaw updates and amendments and found it powerful and helpful for the planning perspective.  Mr. Leon said he preferred to work with a printed version for such a large document but was able to go through it on the computer. He said this was a remarkable and enormously valuable document. He asked for clarification on what was the demographic participation for this comprehensive plan and does this reflect the sentiment and input of the broader community of the 30,000 residents and 12,000 households in the community? How do you make it reflect what the priorities that will be in the next two to five years? Ms. Politis, Ms. Lyon, Mr. Herbert, and Ms. Felton all addressed the question from Mr. Leon on the demographic participation for this proposed Comprehensive Plan. Discussion: Timeline of LexingtonNext Comprehensive Plan Update: Mr. Hornig said staff wants to go through the entire document over the next month to make sure the facts are correct. The CPAC feels they want to work more on the executive summary and asked for time to polish that first. The new polished draft maybe ready around the end of March right before Town Meeting. Mr. Hornig asked the Planning Board if they want to push ahead with this meeting weekly on top of Town Meeting and regular development meetings or a little more slowly to add an extra meeting per month.  Ms. Thompson said it has to be right and the number of meetings does not really matter and trying to rush it is not the right thing.  Mr. Creech agreed with Ms. Thompson. He thought we should pick a section at a time, go through it to get it right, and meet once a month.  Mr. Peters said once a month during Town Meeting is good and we can accelerate it after considering all the things we need to do on our regular work. Minutes for the Meeting of February 17, 2022 Page 3  Mr. Leon asked what resources will be needed and what is the ultimate target date? What are the expectations that the Town has for us and whether others are going to be weighing in on this.  Mr. Hornig said we could probably get it done by July if we push and if we do it the longer way it will possibly be done in September. He asked the Board to familiarize themselves with this draft. At the end of March there will be a revised document to review. Ms. Kowalski announced that there will be a new Planning Director starting March 21. Discussion: Role of Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee (CPAC): Mr. Hornig said the CPAC will be focused on the executive summary over the next few weeks. The Board will see how it works out over the next few months and then decide how to proceed. ***************************TOWN MEETING***************************** Article 8: Comprehensive Plan Implementation Mr. Hornig asked Ms. Kowalski if we should ask Town Meeting for Implementation monies. Ms. Kowalski said she would defer to the Planning Boards decision. The Board discussed about whether or not to ask the Select Board for the monies at Town Meeting for plan implementation. Ms. Thompson said she felt we should have the job done and ask at the Fall Town Meeting. Mr. Creech would like to have the money sitting there waiting but is not sure if this is realistic. Mr. Peters said the timing is tough and it would be nice to have the monies available and not having the plan ready will make it a tough sell. He asked if we will have a credible request to ask for implementation monies at this time. Mr. Leon said there would need to be a broad deep presentation for this request and believed it would be better to have the the monies set aside in advance to allow a roll-out once the plan is ready. Mr. Hornig said they will discuss this again at the next meeting and Mr. Creech will present the presentation for that request for monies. Mr. Leon asked Ms. Kowalski how eager is the Select Board to have this done? Mr. Peters asked if the CPAC is still looking at the executive summary? Ms. Felton responded yes. Adjourn Robert Peters moved that the Planning Board adjourn the meeting of February 17, 2022. Bob Creech seconded the motion. The Planning Board voted in favor of the motion 4-0-0 (Roll call: Bob Creech – yes; Robert Peters – yes; Melanie Thompson – yes; Charles Hornig – yes). MOTION PASSED Meeting adjourned at 7:43 p.m. Lex Media recorded the meeting. Michael Schanbacher, Clerk of the Planning Board