HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning Board minutes 11-27-1995 (( PLANNING BOARD MINUTES
MEETING OF NOVEMBER 27, 1995
The meeting of the Lexington Planning Board held in Room G-15, Town Office Building, was called to order at
7:37 p.m. by Chairman Davison,with members Canale,Davies, Planning Director Bowyer, and Assistant Planner
Marino present. Mr. Grant and Mr. Merrill arrived during Item 191.
****************** PLANNING BOARD PROJECTS, POLICY MAKING *******************
191. Policy for Transportation Services and Improvements for Rezoning: Joining the Planning Board for this
agenda item were representatives of Lexington's Transportation Advisory Committee, Donald Graham, Sara
Arnold, and Barbara Lucas, Transportation Coordinator. The TAC was responding to an October 3, 1995 letter
from the Planning Board seeking their ideas on transportation services in connection with requests to rezone land
in Lexington.
The Planning Board would like to elevate transportation services to regular consideration, somewhat comparable
to affordable housing, for all rezoning proposals - both residential and commercial. Their objective is that every
rezoning proposal provide some type of transportation service to reduce reliance on single occupant automobiles.
Several proposals for rezoning to the RD, Planned Residential district have been rumored in recent months,
including the Grey Nuns property on Pelham Road and land on Lowell Street at East Street. The Metropolitan
State Hospital land may also be rezoned someday
The Transportation Advisory Committee responded with a draft set of guidelines,a series of transportation policy
statements, based on the form of the Planning Board's Inclusionary Housing Policy It was received
enthusiastically by the Planning Board, which foresaw that it could be the basis of the Transportation Element of
the Comprehensive Plan for Lexington.
Mr. Canale recommended that this be the Board's policy until after Town Meeting at which time the Board would
review it and revise it if necessary
After review and revision of the guidelines, on the motion of Mr. Canale, seconded by Mr. Davies, the Board
voted unanimously, 5-0, to adopt this as a working document that will be referred to the Marriott Corporation or
any other applicants who submit rezoning proposals.
**************************** COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING ****************************
192. Land Use Element: Site Analyses: Mr. Bowyer gave a brief overview of the site analysis process and
identified approaches the Board could take. While the Board will be looking at individual sites, if broad thinking
is applied, the result can be general attitudes and policies.
He said that questions to have in mind while studying the material are: What does the Town need?What are Town
regulations? Do they allow for the desirable uses? How could the desired uses be implemented? Mr. Merrill
added that the tools to do this are the comprehensive plan,die Zoning By-Laws and the Development Regulations.
The comprehensive plan is a policy oriented document. The land use implementation tools are the Zoning Bylaw i
and Development Regulations.
Mr. Bowyer said that other types of implementation include appropriations for public actions. They involve the
Town Meeting, the Selectmen, and the finance committees.
He cautioned that the Board's attitudes about sites will likely change over time. As other sites are looked at,
2 Minutes for the Meeting of November 27, 1995
thoughts on the sites discussed tonight may be seen from a different perspective and the Board members'
assessment of a site may change. Housing needs, open space needs. The process is exploratory but pattern and
a synthesis may begin to emerge. Mr Merrill suggested that the Board mark up a map to show the sites in relation
to each other and to aid in identifying corridors or sectors.
Discussion was based on the questionnaires and three site analyses prepared by the staff.
Armenian Sisters (Pelham Road): The Board agreed on three main points relative to this site.
1 The existing building should be preserved in some form for use as multi-family housing:
2. There should be little or no additional site development. The current context of the property is a large
scale building in an open setting, and that visual scale should be preserved even if one lot is built on
to make the economics work for the developer.
3 Suggested Implementation: Create townhouses that comply with current regulations. Rezone the land so
the density could be increased. Change the configuration inside the walls of the building shell.
35 Haves Lane:
1 A single family residential use is the most appropriate.
2. An effort should be made to acquire some of land at the rear of the lot to add to existing town land.
Cupp Farm: The Board found this to be a versatile site. It is a deep, eight acre site that is well screened by
evergreens. Traffic along Woburn Street makes the placement of any future road into the property an important
consideration. An institutional use, such as an assisted living facility, a cluster subdivision, or continued
agricultural use are all believed to be good uses for the property
The meeting was adjourned at 10:40 p.m. '
OP
Frederick L. Merrill, Jr., Clerk