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PLANNING BOARD MINUTES
MEETING OF April 6, 2022
Minutes of the Lexington Planning Board
Held on April 6, 2022, Virtual Meeting at 6:00 pm
Present: Charles Hornig, Chair; Robert Peters, Vice-Chair; Michael Schanbacher, Clerk; Robert
Creech, and Melanie Thompson. Also present were Abby McCabe, Planning Director, and Sheila
Page, Assistant Planning Director.
Charles Hornig, Chair, called to order the meeting of the Lexington Planning Board on
Wednesday, April 6, 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.
*******************DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION********************
Deliberation: Special Permit – Site Sensitive Development – 75 Outlook Drive:
Mr. Hornig said the public hearing was closed and the Board discussed the proposed draft
decision. The Board had no comments or questions regarding the proposed draft decision
submitted by staff.
Robert Peters moved that the Planning Board approve the special permit and street
adequacy determination regarding 75 Outlook Drive as presented by staff tonight.
Michael Schanbacher seconded the motion. The Planning Board voted in favor of the
motion 5-0-0 (roll call: Bob Creech – yes; Robert Peters – yes; Michael Schanbacher –
yes; Melanie Thompson – yes; Charles Hornig - yes) MOTION PASSED
**************************TOWN MEETING******************************
Report: Article 35: Amend Zoning Bylaw – Open Space Residential Developments
(OSRD):
Mr. Hornig said this would not be coming up tonight at Town Meeting and was
scheduled for next week to be heard. Mr. Creech had an amendment to this Zoning
Article that he presented to the Board to require a special permit process instead of the
proposed site plan review. Mr. Hornig asked for clarification if there is any difference
from the last time he proposed this amendment.
Board Comments and Questions to Mr. Creech’s proposed amendment:
Ms. Thompson asked for clarification on the term “controversial benefits to the
Page 2 Minutes for the Meeting of April 6, 2022
Town”. She asked for clarification as to why “by-right” would be better.
Mr. Schanbacher asked for clarification on what was the benefit we are trying to
get for the Town by requiring this as a special permit. He was torn since he does
not see the benefit of this amendment since the only way to reduce the price of
units is to reduce the unit size. He said he believed that this amendment does not
accomplish the desired creation of diversity in unit sizes.
Mr. Hornig asked clarification on what items listed in the presentation would
change in the special permit process as opposed to the site plan review process.
He believed that there would be no benefit for a developer to apply for an OSRD
if they had to go through the special permit process when they could apply for the
public benefit development with less required open space and affordable housing.
Mr. Peters said that the statement in the presentation saying special permits move
quickly is in the eye of the beholder and a conventional/by-right process would be
a lot quicker since the developer would know what is required and not subject to
Planning Board discretion. He asked for clarification what on the sales benefit
th
stated on the 5 slide.
Public Comments and Questions:
A member of the audience said the comparison made between the OSRD and
public benefit development showed that the OSRD would never be used if it was
made a special permit process and we should leave the original proposal as is with
site plan review. He said it would be hard to quantify the effect of the special
permit since a builder may just decide not to go with the conventional
development since it maybe more profitable and we will never know for sure. The
size of the units would be limited in the OSRD and we would get a greater
diversity in the size of units. The by-right with site plan review provide more
predictability for the developers.
The site plan review process seems to be a better benefit for the OSRD bylaw.
The Board decided that this conversation would be discussed further at the next meeting
next Monday, April 11, 2022.
Report: Article 2: Planning Board Report:
Mr. Hornig presented the draft Article 2 report he will be presenting to Town Meeting.
The Board discussed Mr. Hornig’s presentation for the Article 2 report.
Article 30: Amend Special Act – Planning Board and Town Meeting
Mr. Hornig said that Article 30 may come up tonight.
**************2022-2 SPECIAL TOWN MEETING ARTICLES*****************
Article 4, Comprehensive Plan Completion:
Mr. Creech did a presentation on Article 4 for the Special Town Meeting 2022-2. The
Board had no comments or questions. If Board Members have comments please send
them to the Planning Director.
Minutes for the Meeting of April 6, 2022 Page 3
**********************BOARD ADMINISTRATION************************
Upcoming Meetings:
The next meetings will be Monday, April 11 and Wednesday, April 13 since those are when the
zoning articles are scheduled to be discussed. Staff asked if the Board can move the June 15
meeting to June 22. Please look at your calendars and let staff know.
Review Meeting Minutes for March 9 & 16, 2022:
Robert Peters moved that the Planning Board approve the minutes of the March 9 & 16, 2022
as submitted. Michael Schanbacher seconded the motion. The Planning Board voted in favor
of the motion 5-0-0 (Roll call: Bob Creech – yes; Robert Peters – yes; Michael Schanbacher –
yes; Melanie Thompson – yes; Charles Hornig – yes). MOTION PASSED.
Adjourn
Robert Peters moved that the Planning Board adjourn the meeting of April 6 2022. Michael
Schanbacher seconded the motion. The Planning Board voted in favor of the motion 5-0-0
(Roll call: Bob Creech – yes; Robert Peters – yes; Michael Schanbacher – yes; Melanie
Thompson – yes; Charles Hornig – yes). MOTION PASSED
Meeting adjourned at 7:19 p.m.
Lex Media recorded the meeting.
Michael Schanbacher, Clerk of the Planning Board