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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-10-12-SPRD-min Special Permit Residential Development (SPRD) Ad-hoc Committee Meeting Minutes of October 12, 2022 Special Permit Residential Development committee members present for the Public Meeting: Jill Hai, Chair; Scott Cooper, Joyce Murphy, Charles Hornig, Richard Perry, Betsey Weiss, Heather Hartshorn. Lexington Staff present for the Public Meeting: Carol Kowalski, Assistant Town Manager for Development; Abigail McCabe, Planning Director; Julie Krakauer Moore, Zoning Administrator; Kiruthika Ramakrishnan, Administrative Assistant. Other attendees: David Trietsch. Ms. Hai conducted a roll call to ensure all the members of the SPRD ad-hoc committee and members of staff present could hear and be heard. Ms. Hai chaired the meeting and called the meeting to order at 8:03 am. The meeting was recorded by LexMedia for future on-demand viewing. 1. Discussion on a name for the bylaw Ms. Kowalski gave an overview of the comments she got from the committee members regarding the name for the bylaw. Ms. Kowalski said that Ms. Manz preferred ‘Compact Neighborhood’ and that Ms. Weiss liked ‘Cluster’. Ms. Hai said that she liked ‘Compact Neighborhood’ as she felt that it depicts that the houses will be compact in size and that the units will be smaller. Mr. Hornig stressed the importance of the two paths being named. Mr. Cooper agreed with Mr. Hornig that the paths should have names and preferred the Alternative Residential Development (ARD) be named as ‘Compact Neighborhood’. Mr. Cooper also felt that with time, SSD was morphing with the other path and was not convinced if two paths were necessary. Mr. Perry felt that two paths are needed as he felt that the two paths are distinct. Mr. Perry added that SSD is a builder’s friend and that the recent modification is the significant addition of affordable housing component to it. Ms. Hai said that the other modification is the removal of single family structure requirement from SSD. Ms. Hai moved that the SPRD committee rename ARD as Compact Neighborhood. Mr. Hornig seconded the motion. The SPRD Committee voted in favor of the motion 7-0-0 (Roll Call Hornig- yes, Perry-yes, Cooper- yes, Weiss- yes, Murphy- yes, Hai- yes, Hartshorn-yes). MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. 2. Discussion on the slide deck Ms. Hai wanted the committee’s feedback on the slides prepared by some of the members of the committee, which are to be presented to the Select Board. Ms. Kowalski shared the slides to the committee. Ms. Kowalski walked through the reasons for the committee’s formation and the need for change, stressing on the importance of bringing in more affordable units to the community. Ms. Kowalski shared the slide that showed the huge gap between income and the housing cost in Lexington. Mr. Hornig said that the term ‘low or moderate’ should be used instead of ‘affordable’. The chair decided to revisit the topic at a later date to decide the term. Ms. McCabe said that while putting forth a zoning amendment, the zoning bylaw has to be updated to include definitions that explain terms like affordable, low and moderate income. Ms. Kowalski suggested splitting the contents of the slides, one based on eligible income and eligible purchase price of a subsidized home and the other based on the general median household income in Lexington and the income that is needed to afford the median priced home. Ms. Kowalski shared the median household income in Lexington, based on data from 2019, to the committee. Ms. Kowalski shared a slide stating a gist of the Statement of Values. The committee discussed if ‘sustainable buildings’ should be included in the Statement of Values. The chair decided to revisit on a later date to decide on the term. Pictures of compact neighborhoods and Missing Middle Homes from different communities were shared. The slides listed the recommendations from the committee and defined the terms. On recommendations for Affordable Housing, Mr. Perry said that that, for developments over 10 units, it will be too much of a burden for a developer to provide 20% of GFA as affordable and rounding the fraction up to an additional home. The committee discussed on this and agreed to change the requirement for developments over 10 units to require 20% of GFA as affordable units. The next slide gave details about the new requirements of the bylaw. The committee discussed the prohibition on future expansion, the restriction on the maximum number of units, and parking standards. It was decided by the committee to change the parking standards to match the existing bylaw, which would equal one unit per home. It was also decided to not limit the pavement width in the bylaw and that it will be added in the regulations. It was also decided that no individual unit allotment of open space is required. Mr. Hornig shared slides that he had edited based on decisions made by the committee in earlier meetings. Mr. Hornig said that the SSDs are being updated and Balanced Housing Developments and Public Benefit Developments are replaced by Compact Neighborhoods. He added that both of them will require inclusionary housing and site plan review. Mr. Hornig shared a slide on Inclusionary Housing based on the GFA and explained that, if inclusionary housing is determined based on GFA, it is easy to arrive at the inclusionary component accurately without any need for rounding. Mr. Hornig also had a slide to explain Inclusionary housing based on number of units. Mr. Hornig shared a slide on SSDs and highlighted the provisions that were changed and those that were not. Ms. Hai wanted the committee’s preference on whether the percentage of Inclusionary Housing should be determined based on GFA or number of units. The majority of the committee preferred GFA to be the basis of calculating inclusionary housing. 3. Further discussion on a plan of action Ms. Hai said that Ms. Manz and Ms. Weiss will work on the slide deck and incorporate the comments and suggestions from the committee and that the committee will convene a meeting to discuss the presentation to the Select Board. Adjourn Ms. Hai moved that the SPRD committee adjourn the meeting of October 12th, 2022. Ms. Weiss seconded the motion. The SPRD Committee voted in favor of the motion 6-0-0 (Roll Call Hornig- yes, Perry-yes, Cooper- yes, Weiss- yes, Murphy- yes, Hai- yes). MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. The meeting was adjourned at 9.39 a m. List of Documents 1. SPRD Committee’s Presentation to the Select Board – Power Point slides. 2. Mr. Hornig’s modified presentation to the Select Board