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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-04-13-LCC-minTown of Lexington Lexington Center Committee Minutes for the meeting of April 13th, 2023, Estabrook Hall, in the basement of the Cary Hall Building, Massachusetts Avenue, Lexington Massachusetts Committee members present: Richard Brown, Upasna Chhabra, Katherine Huang, Frederic Johnson, Jeffrey Lyon, Pamela Lyons, Jerold Michelson (Chair), Pamela Shadley, Jon Wakelin Liaisons: Sandhya Iyer, Economic Development, David Pinsonneault, DPW, Captain Chris Barry, LPD, Lorraine Guests: Charlie Wyman, Lextrees.org, Sharon Spaulding, 1666 Mass Ave We began with Jerry Michelson describing the Town Meeting votes in favor of Articles 33 and 34. Although the Center Committee supported the second version of Todd Burger’s amendment regarding stepbacks and shadowing in Lexington Center, the amendment did not pass. There is the possibility of a referendum. Fred Johnson described some of the concerns of those supporting Dawn McKenna’s amendment. Sharon Spaulding spoke about the construction of 1666 Mass Ave in the 80’s. She feels that the Town and the Historic Districts Commission were helpful in the building process – some architectural compromises were made. 1666 prompted the adoption of parking regulations. Dave Pinsonneault discussed the details of getting the Center ready for Patriot’s Day. The Battle Green Project will begin right after Patriot’s Day. Dave also mentioned the two water projects on Lowell Street which will likely cause some traffic disruption. Work on the LexSeeHer sculpture will begin in September. Work is being done at the foot of the Belfrey – creating an accessible point at the bottom of the hill, also to clear out the scrub and plant new trees. Sunday trash pickup begins Memorial Day. The new big belly unit is coming (old one was run over by a car.) DPW Engineering will be attending our May meeting to make a presentation regarding the Conte Bike bus stop. Chris Barry noted that the bus stop sign has disappeared. Sandhya gave us the Economic Development update regarding various Center activities. There will be a ribbon cutting on May 18th to inaugurate Lexington’s cultural districts. There was some discussion of ongoing vacancies in the Center including Sanyo, Bulpan, LaDolda, Starbucks and Anisoptera. Ms. Spaulding mentioned Art’s Specialties coming in as a new business in the 1666 Mass Ave building. Chris Barry noted that Jimmy Cataldo was currently lightly enforcing the parking regulations in the Center (after a long period of no enforcement due to Covid.) Mr. Cataldo is especially focusing on repeat offenders. There was some discussion of enforcing the sign regulations – Lexington Liquors has one or two sandwich signs which violate our regulations. No sandwich boards are permitted on a public way – this regulation was not enforced during Covid. Committee members agreed it is time to enforce this regulation. The Center Committee voted 7 in favor and 2 abstaining to request that the Town Manager enforce the sign regulations. The Center Committee voted 7 in favor and 1 abstaining to request that the Select Board prioritize a review of the sign by-law and the related issue of temporary signage in public spaces. Charlie Wyman presented the Tree Statement (see LexTrees.org) seeking the endorsement of the Center Committee. The Tree Statement will go to the Select Board on May 22nd. The Center Committee voted 8 to 0 endorse the Tree Statement because the Center’s Tree canopy was a key element in the Center Streetscape Project. The Center Committee voted unanimously to approve the minutes for December, 2022 (6 to 0), January (7 to 0), February (7 to 0), March (8 to 0) and April 7th, 2023 (8 to 0) meetings.