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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-09-27-PB-min Lexington Planning Board Meeting Minutes September 27, 2023 Page 1 of 7 Minutes of the Lexington Planning Board Held on Wednesday September 27, 2023, Virtual Meeting at 6:00 pm Planning Board members present: Robert Peters, Chair; Michael Schanbacher, Vice-Chair; Melanie Thompson, Clerk; Robert Creech, Charles Hornig, and Michael Leon, Associate Member. Also present were: Abby McCabe, Planning Director; Carol Kowalski, Assistant Town Manager for Development; James Kelly, Building Commissioner; and Kiruthika Ramakrishnan, Planning Coordinator. Robert Peters, Chair of the Planning Board, called to order the meeting of the Lexington Planning Board on Wednesday, September 27, 2023, at 6:00 p.m. For this meeting, the Planning Board is convening by video conference via Zoom. LexMedia is filming this meeting and will record it for future viewing here. Detailed information for remote participation by the public may be found on the Planning Office web page. Mr. Peters conducted a roll call to ensure all members of the Planning Board and members of staff present could hear and be heard. Mr. Peters provided a summary of instructions for members of the public in attendance. It was further noted that materials for this meeting are available on the Town's Novus Packet dashboard. Board Administration Continued Public Hearing to amend Planning Board’s Zoning Regulations Chapter 176 of the Code of Lexington sections: General Regulations, Fee Schedule, Submission Material, Special Permits, Site Plan Review, Site Plan Review Design Regulations, Open Space Residential Developments, & Inclusionary Dwelling Units Mr. Peters opened the continued public hearing to amend Planning Board’s Zoning Regulations Chapter 176 of the Code of Lexington sections: General Regulations, Fee Schedule, Submission Material, Special Permits, Site Plan Review, Site Plan Review Design Regulations, Open Space Residential Developments, & Inclusionary Dwelling Units. Ms. McCabe reported to the Board that the Select Board voted to amend their Stormwater Management Regulations in Chapter 181, Article VI on September 18. Ms. McCabe informed the Board that the Board’s packet included revisions to the Planning Board’s Regulations to match the amended Stormwater Management Regulations, noted in three sections of the regulations – Section 5, 9, and 12 – about materials submitted, information on plans, and site plan review design regulations. Ms. McCabe shared the revised versions of §5.3, §9, and §12 based on the Select Board’s Stormwater Regulations and briefly explained the nature of the changes, which were to match the amended Stormwater Management Regulations. Mr. Schanbacher moved to adopt amended Sections 5.3.2, 9.3.2(12), and 12.9.5 relative to Stormwater Management as shown in drafts dated September 22, 2023. Ms. Thompson seconded the motion. The Planning Board voted in favor of the motion 5-0-0 (Roll call: Creech – yes; Peters – yes; Schanbacher – yes; Thompson – yes; Hornig – yes). MOTION PASSED Lexington Planning Board Meeting Minutes September 27, 2023 Page 2 of 7 Next, the Board discussed the provisions of the new section 14.0 for Inclusionary Dwelling Units, specifically §14.4.1, the regulations pertaining to payment-in-lieu for the affordable housing contribution for Special Residential Developments for fewer than seven units. Ms. McCabe summarized the Planning Board’s discussion in the previous meetings on the payment-in- lieu. She explained that the new zoning that was adopted in article 33 at Annual Town Meeting as part of the Special Residential Development Bylaw only allowed the payment in lieu option for special residential developments with few than seven dwelling units. As Article 33 was sponsored by the Special Permit Residential Bylaw Ad Hoc Committee (SPRD), the Planning Board was not the main sponsor and had not discussed the payment in lieu until August. She said that the Planning Board on August 9 in their hearing for the Planning Board Regulation voted to make the payment in lieu be $500 per square foot. Ms. McCabe noted that Town Meeting’s vote allowed the specific amount to be determined by the Planning Board in the Board’s Regulations. At the time of Town Meeting the Planning Board had not discussed or reviewed what the payment in lieu should be and this was stated at Town Meeting. Ms. McCabe said after August 9, in response to questions raised, she investigated this further, looked into a hypothetical calculation of what that payment-in-lieu amount would be, and is now asking the Board reconsider the $500 per sq. ft. amount. Ms. McCabe added that this amount should encourage builders to try out the Site Sensitive Development zoning and would still lead to a sizable contribution to the Affordable Housing Trust fund. Ms. McCabe recommends the Board consider a revised amount of $300 per sq. ft. cost and evaluate the amount on an annual basis. Ms. Kowalski shared data from the Town’s Housing Feasibility Study that the town is currently pursuing with an architect and real estate consultant for municipal properties, and added that the real estate consultant has provided data on total construction costs per square foot to be $350 for the model he used. Mr. Peters asked Ms. Kowalski if she had an idea what a developer would be looking at as a payout from the Trust in order to be able to build and subsidize an affordable unit. Ms. Kowalski said that it will depend on many factors including the size, form of residential unit, and the market, but that the Trust will be providing subsidies and funds to other entities in addition to building units. Ms. McCabe also suggested an alternative motion for the Board to consider tonight. She suggested adding language to the Board’s Regulations that allows flexibility on the cost amount to be determined by the Planning Board during the specific project’s public hearing and allowing payments over a five-year period. Ms. Kowalski added that the precedent for staggered payments was used with Brookhaven which allowed for payments over 15 years. Mr. Peters wanted to know the percentage of affordable housing trust funds that were to be derived from the payment-in-lieu contribution. Ms. Kowalski said that the majority of funding for the Housing Trust will come from Community Preservation Act funds and it was not possible to say the exact percentage of their funding that would be received from payment-in-lieu contribution. The payment in lieu contribution will only be a partial contribution but not the main funding source for the Trust. Mr. Leon said he does not support the new language in §14.4.1 and §14.4.2 for payments over a 5-year period, and added that based on Ms. Kowalski’s explanation, a contribution of $350 per square foot sounds more reasonable to him, even if it were not to include land costs. Mr. Creech agreed with Mr. Leon and said that payment-in-lieu should not be waived under any circumstances. Lexington Planning Board Meeting Minutes September 27, 2023 Page 3 of 7 Mr. Schanbacher said that, based on his conversations with Ms. Kowalski and Ms. McCabe, he was comfortable to bring down the payment-in-lieu to $300, particularly since it will be reviewed and adjusted annually as needed. Ms. Thompson said that there was no value in stretching out the cost to 5 years when money was needed for affordable housing. Ms. Thompson wanted clarity on what was included by the SPRD committee when they came up with the idea for a payment-in-lieu. Mr. Hornig, as a member of the SPRD committee, responded that the SPRD Committee members only formally stated that the payment-in-lieu should not be limited to hard construction costs and the final amount would be determined by the Planning Board. Mr. Creech and Mr. Peters felt that a contribution of $500 was too high and $270 was too low and think a little over $300 would be a better number. Mr. Peters opened the hearing up to public comments. Public Comments: Tom Shiple, 18 Phinney Road, reminded everyone that due to the restriction on maximum unit size in a Compact Neighborhood Development (CND), even smaller developments will have more than six units, with no option to make a payment-in-lieu contribution and hence payment-in-lieu would not affect CNDs. Jean Krieger, 44 Webster Road, wanted the land cost to be included in calculating the payment-in-lieu contribution, as land is expensive in Lexington, hard costs are the same everywhere, and wanted to make sure that the payment-in-lieu contributions are substantial to help Lexington maintain 40B compliance. Cindy Arens, 7 Kitson Park Drive, asked the Board to take into consideration the 40 to 50 percent market rate GFA bonus for a SSD (Site Sensitive Development) that the developers would receive when arriving at the per square foot payment-in-lieu contribution. Ricki Pappo, 16 Blossomcrest Road, thought that the market rate GFA bonus was substantial and would incentivize builders and she would like the payment-in-lieu at a rate that gets affordable housing. Wendy Manz, 3 Captain Parker Arms, pointed out that the SPRD committee’s presentations stated that land costs and soft costs would be excluded from the payment-in-lieu calculations and it was never their intention for the amount to be an all-inclusive cost. She recommended reducing the $500 amount. Betsey Weiss, 8 Dover Lane, said that developers have told the SPRD committee members that if land cost construction costs and soft costs are included in the payment-in-lieu calculation, it will not be economically viable or feasible for them and they would opt for conventional subdivisions instead, leading to no contribution towards inclusionary housing. Barbara Katzenberg, 37 Moon Hill Road, wanted to know if there was a plan to update the SRD to use the same table as the conventional development, because SRDs have a large bonus due to the table they use. Ms. McCabe said that there was no such plan at present. Ms. Kowalski said that the point of SRD is that it allows a size and type of home that would not be otherwise allowed and added that incentives are essential to encourage alternative home types. Lexington Planning Board Meeting Minutes September 27, 2023 Page 4 of 7 Lin Jensen, 133 Reed Street, said that the residents and the Comprehensive Plan wanted affordable houses to be in character with the other houses in the neighborhood and be indistinguishable. Mark Sandeen, member of the Affordable Housing Trust, but speaking for himself, felt that with inflation and rising construction costs, if the payment-in-lieu is spread over many years, the contribution will not be sufficient to provide the same number of expected units. Mr. Sandeen also felt that it is not certain that individual builders may exist for multiple years. Elaine Tung, 5 Franklin Road and Chair of Affordable Housing Trust, but speaking for herself, agreed with Mr. Sandeen and added that the Affordable Housing Trust has been seeing a lot of opportunities for creating affordable units in Lexington and that she does not support the suggestion for spreading the payments out over five years. Tina McBride, 45 Turning Mill Road, wanted the Affordable Housing units to be dispersed in Town and not grouped to one area of the Town and did not support the proposed changes to §14.4.1 and §14.4.2. Mr. Peters reiterated that he was comfortable with the payment-in-lieu being in the mid-$300s and was not in favor of the latest staff proposed changes to §14.4.1 and §14.4.2. Mr. Schanbacher said he was also opposed to the proposed changes to §14.4.1 and §14.4.2 for payments made over time and felt that $300 was a good place to start. Mr. Creech shared his comparative analysis of the shortfall in selling price with different payment-in-lieu amounts and added that he was in favor of the contribution being $350 and not $500 or $400. Ms. Thompson, said that it was very important for the affordable housing units to be spread across the Town and not built altogether in one place. Ms. Thompson did not agree with the payment being spread over five years, also felt that $500 was too high a contribution, wanted a lower dollar amount, and wanted the amount to be reviewed periodically. Mr. Hornig thought that $300 per square foot was adequate and did not favor the proposed changes to §14.4.1 and §14.4.2 that staff presented tonight. Mr. Leon said that he was leaning towards $325 or $350 per square foot for the contribution and agreed with Ms. Arens that the density bonuses were substantial and encouraged the developers to do onsite affordable units even for smaller projects. Mr. Leon was opposed to the proposed changes to §14.4.1 and §14.4.2 for payments spread over time. Based on the views from all the Board members, Mr. Peters proposed that $325 per square foot would be a good compromise, with the understanding that the Planning Board will review it on an annual basis. Mr. Creech and Mr. Schanbacher said they accepted the proposal for a $325 contribution. Mr. Hornig said he would support any amount greater than $300. Mr. Schanbacher moved to amend Section 14.4.1 as voted on August 9, 2023 and as described in the language in the Novus package for this evening’s meeting and further amended the amount to be $325 per required sq. ft. of GFA and reviewed on an annual basis and adjusted as needed. Ms. Thompson Lexington Planning Board Meeting Minutes September 27, 2023 Page 5 of 7 seconded the motion. The Planning Board voted in favor of the motion 5-0-0 (Roll call: Creech – yes; Peters – yes; Schanbacher – yes; Thompson – yes; Hornig – yes). MOTION PASSED The Board discussed the request from Mr. Shiple and Ms. Katzenberg to require interior sidewalks in projects. Ms. McCabe explained that the Board received an email from Mr. Shiple asking to reconsider the language in the design regulations pertaining to Site Plan Review in section 12.4.5.1 with regards to sidewalks and pathways and shared the email. Ms. McCabe summarized the communication saying that it asked for to change to strengthen the language that sidewalks be provided within the developments in a property. Ms. Katzenberg explained that the suggestions were based on their analysis of some of the current multifamily developments in Lexington where some have sidewalks within the site and others do not, to make future developments more walkable and pedestrian friendly. Mr. Schanbacher moved to amend Section 12.4.5.1 to say as follows: Pedestrian ways and shared use paths that are accessible inviting safe and efficient connection to public sidewalks and other pathways, building entries, parking areas and outdoor managed spaces shall be provided. Ms. Thompson seconded the motion. The Planning Board voted in favor of the motion 5-0-0 (Roll call: Creech – yes; Peters – yes; Schanbacher – yes; Thompson – yes; Hornig – yes). MOTION PASSED Mr. Schanbacher moved to close the public hearing on the Board's Zoning Regulations amending Chapter 176 of the Code of Lexington. Ms. Thompson seconded the motion. The Planning Board voted in favor of the motion 5-0-0 (Roll call: Creech – yes; Peters – yes; Schanbacher – yes; Thompson – yes; Hornig – yes). MOTION PASSED The Board recessed at 7:56 p.m. and reconvened at 8:01 p.m. Initial Work Session on Zoning Amendments Ms. McCabe explained the process of the Select Board for convening the Special Town Meeting on November 7th, 2023, the recommendation for amending Section 9.3.3 to be submitted for the Special Town Meeting, and shared the draft zoning motion with the Planning Board members. Ms. McCabe explained that the current zoning regulations permit the associate member to vote on Special Permit applications only and, with the recent zoning changes, the Planning Board will be receiving a lot more Site Plan Review applications. Ms. McCabe said that the recommendation was to extend the ability of the Chair to call an associate member to sit on the Board for the purpose of acting on all types of applications that may come before the Board if there was an absence, inability to act, a conflict, or a vacancy on the Board. Mr. Peters and Mr. Creech expressed their approval for bringing the proposal to Town Meeting. The Planning Board decided to move the proposal to amend § 9.3.3 to Town Meeting for their consideration. The Planning Board began discussing zoning amendments to bring forward to Annual Town Meeting for Spring of 2024. Ms. McCabe said that presently staff suggested amendments to §3.0 - Use Regulations, Table 1 Permitted Uses & Development Standards, §10 - Definitions, §5.2 - Signs, and §3.0, 4.0, and 10.0 Lexington Planning Board Meeting Minutes September 27, 2023 Page 6 of 7 related to gross floor area to follow up from discussion last spring in relation to Article 40 where the Board expressed interest in looking into how to calculate gross floor area. Public Comments: Jerry Michelson, Chair of Lexington Center Committee, said that making amendments to the Use Table and signage was very valuable for business in Lexington Center. Review Zoom Meeting Format (Meeting vs Webinar) Mr. Hornig had asked that this be added to the agenda because he wanted to see how the change in meeting format added workload on staff compared to the webinar format. Mr. Hornig felt that the meeting format has been working for small and simple meetings but suggested using webinars for large and complex meetings where a lot of attendees may be expected so the meeting can be better managed. Mr. Peters said that for very large meetings, in person meetings in larger meeting spaces like Cary Hall may also be considered. Board Member Updates Mr. Creech informed the Board about the Community Preservation Committee meeting he attended last week. Mr. Creech said that concerns were raised by a few members of the committee regarding LexHAB’s ability to come to the Community Preservation Committee (CPC) in future for funding needs. Mr. Creech said that Town Counsel clarified saying that LexHAB will be able to request funds from CPC. Review of Meeting Minutes: September 13 and September 18, 2023 Draft Mr. Schanbacher moved that the Planning Board approve the draft Minutes of the public meeting and the Executive session held on 9/13/23 and 9/18/23 as written. Ms. Thompson seconded the motion. The Planning Board voted in favor of the motion 5-0-0 (Roll call: Creech – yes; Peters – yes; Schanbacher – yes; Thompson – yes; Hornig – yes). MOTION PASSED Upcoming Meetings: October 11, October 25 Mr. Peters reminded the Board about the upcoming meetings scheduled for October 11, October 25. Adjourn Mr. Schanbacher moved that the Planning Board adjourn the meeting of September 27, 2023. Ms. Thompson seconded the motion. The Planning Board voted in favor of the motion 5-0-0 (Roll call: Creech – yes; Peters – yes; Schanbacher – yes; Thompson – yes; Hornig – yes). MOTION PASSED Meeting adjourned at 8.22 p.m. Lex Media recorded the meeting. Material from the meeting can be found in the Planning Board’s Novus Packet. List of Documents 1. Continued Public Hearing to amend Planning Board Zoning Regulations Chapter 176 of the Code of Lexington: Planning Staff Memo dated September 22, 2023; Draft Sections 3,4,5,6 of Chapter 176 of the Zoning Regulations dated September 22, 2023 showing the proposed changes; Draft Lexington Planning Board Meeting Minutes September 27, 2023 Page 7 of 7 Section 9 of Chapter 176 of the Zoning Regulations dated September 22,2023; Draft Section 12 of Chapter 176 of the Zoning dated September 22,2023; Alternative motion for PB’s Consideration from Ms. McCabe, Email from Deborah Strod dated 9.20.23 to Planning Board reg payment-in- lieu; Email from Tom Shiple reg Sidewalks in multifamily developments dated September 25,2023; Email from Barbara Katzenberg reg Sidewalks in multifamily developments dated September 24,2023; Spreadsheet showing Tom Shiple’s Analysis of Payment-in-lieu calculations; Email communication between Dick Perry and Kathryn Roy reg Tom Shiple’s Analysis of Payment-in- lieu calculations; Email from Harriet Cohen dated September 27, 2023 to Planning Board reg Payment-in-lieu; Alternative Payment-in-lieu motion dated 9.27.23; Development Cost calculations from Brett-Kirk Co., as part of the Housing Feasibility Study presentation. 2. Initial Work Session on Zoning Amendments: Draft motion dated 9.26.23 on zoning amendment to §135-9.3.3 of the Zoning Bylaw 3. Draft Meeting Minutes of 09.13.23 and 9.18.23 Planning Board Meetings 4. Miscellaneous: MAGIC Small Business Support listing; MAGIC Small Business Support Ecosystem Presentation dated September 5, 2023; Observations on MAGIC Sub Region Small Business Ecosystem- September 2023 Memo