HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning Board Minutes 1990-01-08 PLANNING BOARD MEETING
MINUTES FOR JANUARY 8, 1990
r- The meeting of the Lexington Planning Board held in Room G-15, Town Office
Building, was called to order by the Chairman, Mrs. Wood, with members
Klauminzer, Uhrig, Williams, Planning Director Bowyer, Assistant Planner
Nordby and Secretary Peters present. Mr. Sorensen arrived at the beginning of
Item 2.
1. Review of Minutes: The Board reviewed the minutes for the meeting of
December 11, 1989 and for the Executive Session of December 11, 1989. On the
motion of Mrs. Klauminzer, seconded by Mr. Williams, it was voted 4-0 to
approve the minutes as written.
The Board reviewed and corrected the minutes for the meeting of December 18,
1989. On the motion of Mrs. Klauminzer, seconded by Mr. Williams, it was
voted 4-0 to approve the minutes as amended.
*************** ADMINISTRATION OF LAND DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS ************
RECOMMENDATIONS ON APPLICATIONS TO THE BOARD OF APPEALS
2. Hearings Scheduled for January 11. 1990 Mr. Williams gave an oral review
of the following petitions
315 Woburn Street, Just Chicken Inc. , SP, to allow fast food service with
take out food service, the addition of 16 seats for consumption of food on
the premises, to permit the sale of coffee, and to allow two signs to
remain, as installed. The Board noted that compliance with the provisions
of Section 10, Landscaping, Transition and Screening, to the "maximum
extent practicable" is required to be achieved as part of the approval of
an application for a special permit or special permit with site plan
review They agreed the intent of that provision is that whenever a
special permit is requested, deficiencies in landscaping should be
corrected. They also noted that no landscaping plan, as required under
Section 10.1.3 of the Zoning By-Law, was included with the application.
The Board agreed they had no problem with the signs, as installed, or the
addition of the 16 seats and seven additional parking spaces, but they
thought the parking and shopping area should be landscaped. They sug-
gested that, if it were felt by the Board of Appeals that the installation
of all landscaping would be an excessive burden on this one applicant,
perhaps a complete landscaping plan could be developed and this applicant
start the first phase of the plan.
On the motion of Mr.Williams, seconded by Mrs. Klauminzer, it was voted
5-0 to recommend the special permit not be granted until a landscaping
plan, as required under Section 10 of the Zoning By-Law, is approved.
49 Bartlett Street, Carol Batstone, Variances, to add a two-story addition
and porch, to a single family dwelling leaving a front yard setback of 18,
feet, rather than 30 feet as required, and a side yard setback of 0.1
feet, rather than 7.5 feet as required. The Board did not have a problem
with granting a front yard variance However, they noted that, since the
Imo!
Minutes for the Meeting of January 8, 1989 2
applicant owns both lots, the lot line could be moved 7.5 feet to meet the
side yard setback requirements, or the lots could be combined. Either
way, there would be no need for a variance from side yard setback require-
ments. On the motion of Mr. Sorensen, seconded by Mrs. Klauminzer it was
voted 5-0 to recommend the variance for the front yard setback be granted
and the addition be allowed, only if the two lots are combined, or the lot
line is moved 7.5 feet to bring the side yard setback into compliance.
277 Bedford Street, Mobil Oil Corporation, for SP and Variance to update a
service station Mrs. Wood reported that Board of Appeals Chairman Anne
Scigliano had informed her that it appeared from a memo to the Board of
Appeals from Zoning Officer Joseph Marino, that the petitions filed by
Mobil were invalid. Mrs. Scigliano said the Board of Appeals planned to
open the hearing only for the purpose of allowing the applicant to
withdraw its petitions, or to deny the applications if the applicant does
not make such a request.
The Planning Board concurred with the opinion of the Zoning Officer that
the service station is a nonconforming use in a Neighborhood Business
district and the applicant should not be allowed to increase the level of
activity on the site. On the motion of Mr. Sorensen, seconded by Mrs.
Uhrig, it was voted 5-0 to recommend the variance and special permit be
denied if the applicant does not request permission to withdraw the
petitions because they would constitute an expansion of a nonconforming
use in violation of Section 6.1.4 c of the Zoning By-Law.
3 Hearings Scheduled for January 25 1990: Mr. Williams gave an oral review
of the following petitions.
14 White Pine Lane, Elizabeth Liao and Timothy Dugan, SP, to use part of
their residence for home offices for their individual private psychiatric
practices The Board noted that the proposed combined amount of practice
in the home for the two doctors appeared to be around 45 hours a week,
beginning at 6 30 a.m. and ending at 10 00 p.m. They thought this was too
intense a use in a residential neighborhood. They suggested that, if the
applicants were concerned with spending as much time as possible with
their families and wished to practice the amount of hours requested, they
could arrange to rent an office in a non-residential area that both could
use at different hours, so that one parent could be home while the other
was using the office to see patients. On the motion of Mr. Sorensen,
seconded by Mrs. Klauminzer, it was voted 4-1 (Mr. Williams voted in the
negative) , to recommend the special permit be granted only if the combined
hours of practice in the home are limited to no more than 20 hours a week,
do not start before 8 00 a.m. , with no appointment lasting beyond 9:00
p.m. , and there is no on-street parking.
196 Woburn Street, Jehovah's Witnesses, Inc. , appeal of the decision of
the Zoning Officer denying a building permit, as the plans failed to
demonstrate compliance with Section 10 Landscaping, Transition and
Screening The Board agreed this was a reasonable condition to be imposed
by the Town, that does not excessively restrict the church's right to
build. On the motion of Mr. Williams, seconded by Mr. Sorensen, it was
voted 5-0 to concur with the decision of the Zoning Officer.
Minutes for the Meeting of January 8, 1989 3
182 Bedford Street, L'Alouette, Inc. , SP, to allow a take-out food service
as a substitute for the existing non-conforming use. The Board had no
problem with the plan as long as a landscaping plan is part of the
application, as required under Section 10 (Landscaping, Transition and
Screening) of the Zoning By-Law. On the motion of Mr. Williams, seconded
by Mrs. Klauminzer, it was voted 5-0 to recommend the special permit not
be granted until a landscape plan is filed as part of the application.
177 Cedar Street, Lily Szonyi, LICSW, SP. home office, to see small groups
and individual clients for no more than 15 hours a week. On the motion of
Mr. Williams, seconded by Mrs. Klauminzer, it was voted 5-0 to recommend
the special permit be granted, with the condition that no patients are
seen after 9 00 p.m.
The Board also agreed to make no comment on the following application:
12 Green Lane, Anthony and Gabrielle Mazza, Variance, to add a two car
garage leaving a sideyard set back of 11 feet instead of the required 15
feet.
4. 4 Jackson Court. Donna & John Harrison. Repetitive Petition Hearing Date
On the motion of Mr. Sorensen, seconded by Mrs. Klauminzer, it was voted 5-0
to hold a public hearing February 12, 1990, 7 45 p.m. , to consider whether to
consent to the applicant's request to allow a resubmission to the Board of
Appeals of their petition for a variance from the front yard setback for an
addition to a nonconforming single family dwelling.
************* ADMINISTRATION OF LAND DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS *************
SUBDIVISION OF LAND
5. Tidd Circle. North Emerson Road Oscar Cormier. Final Release of Surety•
In response to a question from Mr. Williams about potential sewer problems at
Mead Circle, the Engineering Department will be asked whether $15,000 is a
sufficient amount of surety to hold for completion of all remaining work at
Mead Circle. The Board agreed to postpone action on the final release of
surety held for completion of work at Tidd Circle until this information is
received.
********************** ARTICLES FOR 1990 TOWN MEETING **********************
6. ARTICLE A - Technical Corrections The Board reviewed and edited a draft
of the article, as of 1-5-90. They agreed to defer until next year Amendment
3, dealing with determinations that the Special Permit Granting Authority
(SPGA) must make in granting a special permit with site plan review. They
also agreed that a graph was needed to explain the result of Amendment 12,
pertaining to frontage reduction on curves; as well as "before and after"
tables of the SCHEDULE OF PERMITTED BUILDINGS, DENSITY AND DIMENSIONAL STAN-
DARDS for Amendment 13, to show differences.
The Board also discussed a request from the Board of Appeals to delete the
words "within Lexington" from the definition of Roadside Stand, Section 2 of
the Zoning By-Law under ARTICLE A. They agreed this was not a technical
correction; rather it was a substantive change to the By-Law that potentially
Minutes for the Meeting of January 8, 1989 4
could increase the volume of activity at roadside stands, most of which are in
residential districts, in a way that was detrimental to the Town, and that a
decision that this language is inconsistent with Chapter 40A should result
from a court case based on the Lexington By-Law.
7. ARTICLE B - Bed and Breakfast The Board discussed a memo, dated 1/4/90,
from Zoning Officer Joseph Marino which summarized preliminary decisions made
previously by the Board. They agreed that the language for the new section of
the By-Law on Bed and Breakfasts should.
1) keep the use residential, subordinate and incidental to the main residen-
tial use of the building;
2) be allowed only by special permit, granted for two years; require all
existing Bed and Breakfasts to apply for a special permit for the use;
3) be owner occupied, with a maximum of three units permitted (defined as one
bedroom with adjoining bathroom, if provided) ;
4) require one parking space per unit plus two per dwelling, with the spaces
not permitted in the front yard setback.
5) allow no signs beyond those already permitted by the Zoning By-Law;
6) require that the exterior appearance of the structure not be altered from
its single-family character;
7) require exit directions and smoke alarms;
8) limit Bed and Breakfast use only to structures connected to the Town sewer
system; and
9) permit food to be served only to overnight paying guests.
The Board agreed to invite Bed and Breakfast operators to a meeting in the
near future.
8. ARTICLE C - Parking Adjustments The Board reviewed and edited a draft of
the article, as of January 5, 1990. On the motion of Mr. Sorensen, seconded
by Mrs. Uhrig, it was voted 4-1 (Mr. Williams voted in the negative) to drop
paragraph b. ) , that would have lowered the number of seats permitted in the
largest assembly area from 1 per 6 seats (which was revised down from 1 per 10
seats by last year's Town Meeting) to 1 per 4 seats, since there did not
appear to be any data to support revising this provision again after it had
been in effect for only one year.
9. ARTICLE D - Private Flags The Board reviewed a draft of the article, as
of January 5, 1990, making minor editing revisions.
10. Hearing Dates for Zoning Articles: The Board scheduled public hearings
on February 12, 1990 for Articles A, C, and D, starting at 8 00 p.m. , and on
February 26, 1990, 8:00 p.m. , for Article B, Bed and Breakfast.
************************* AFFORDABLE HOUSING *********************************
11. Waltham Street Comprehensive Permit Northgate The Board began a
preliminary discussion of what objectives they could support in development of
the site under the comprehensive permit process. Some Board members said they
would like to see the entire project designated permanently as rental housing,
with at least 30% of the units designated permanently as low- and moderate-
income housing, and would consider allowing 222 units on the site (about 12
units/acre) if this percentage of affordable units were proposed by the devel-
oper. They also agreed a "buy-back" option should be granted to the Town.
Minutes for the Meeting of January 8, 1989 5
A majority of the Board favored allowing nothing higher than three stories for
any buildings on the site, and some favored siting more buildings near Waltham
Street, if more of the rear portion, which is viewed from Concord Avenue, were
not built upon.
The Board discussed ways to deal with the large parking areas required for a
development of this size to minimize the amount of paving required. They
agreed the developer should work toward the design of innovative, as well as
attractive, ways to produce the necessary parking with the least impact on the
site. Also discussed were elimination of structures and active recreational
facilities, such as tennis courts, from the top of the hill; sidewalks; the
designation of the emergency access as a second (one way in) entrance to the
project; and a pedestrian crossing on Waltham Street at the main entrance
across from Brookhaven.
****************************** REPORTS **************************************
12. Planning Board Subcommittees
a. Posting Procedures in West Coast: Mr. Sorensen reported that for any
zoning change there that requires application for a special permit or
variance the property owner is required to post a small sign on the
property itself, to alert abutters or interested citizens. He suggested
- this procedure be considered for use in Lexington.
b. Pine Meadow / Meagherville Site Development Committee Mrs. Wood
reported the Committee met last week, and agreed to prepare a development
packet requesting proposals from developers, based on a through road,
connecting Garfield Street to Cedar Street, with a minimum of 40 affor-
dable housing units.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:38 p.m. .czycJ��F/Q\\) /D'//' I\///,'',
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David G. Williams, Clerk