HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning Board Minutes 1990-04-17 PLANNING BOARD MINUTES
MEETING OF APRIL 17, 1990
The meeting of the Lexington Planning Board held in the Selectmen's Meeting
Room, Town Office Building, was called to order at 8 15 p.m. by the Chairman,
Mrs. Wood, with members Domnitz, Klauminzer, Uhrig, Williams, Planning
Director Bowyer and Assistant Planner Nordby present.
****************** PLANNING BOARD ORGANIZATION *************************
96. Resignation of Judith Uhrig: The Board noted Mrs. Uhrig's resignation
from the Planning Board. Mr. Bowyer reported the State statute requires that
on the resignation of a Planning Board member, the remaining members of the
Board are required, within one month of the vacancy, to give written notice to
the Board of Selectmen who shall, after one week's notice, with the remaining
members of the Planning Board, jointly fill such vacancy by roll call vote.
Mrs. Wood added that the Selectmen will place a legal notice in the Minuteman
inviting any persons interested in serving on the Planning Board to notify the
Planning Board and the Board of Selectmen, in writing, of such interest, and
that a joint meeting with the Selectmen has been tentatively scheduled for May
21, 1990, to fill the vacant position.
On the motion of Mrs. Klauminzer, seconded by Mr. Williams, it was voted 4-0
to accept, with great reluctance and regret, the resignation of Mrs. Uhrig, as
of the end of the 1990 Town Meeting.
******************* ARTICLES FOR 1990 TOWN MEETING ************************
97 Article 55. Presentation of Develonment Pronosal by Community
Develoners Joshua Posner, representing Community Developers, presented the
plans developed by them in response to the request for proposals from the
Meagherville Site Development Committee. On April 29, 1990, they were
selected by the Committee as its preferred developer, and will make a presen-
tation to the Selectmen later in April. He presented the plan, showing forty
affordable units, clustered to preserve as much open space as possible. He
said there are a variety of two and three bedroom units arranged along an
extension of Garfield Street through to Cedar Street. He noted their financ-
ing plan did not rely to any great degree on the State affordable housing
program. They expect to use tax exempt financing through the TELLER Program,
which is not in short supply; to use rent subsidy certificates; and to raise
capital through the federal income tax credit program. Some financing also
will be raised through the sale of up to 11 house lots, with the number sold
depending on what price can be gotten for each lot, and the amount to be
contributed by LexHAB. He gave a brief description of the Community Builder's
work on the Franklin School and said they are pleased to be working with the
Town again.
Questions and concerns from the Board focussed on the proposal to partially
finance the development by selling lots. Mr. Posner said that if the Town
were to provide additional funding, perhaps from LexHAB, the number of lots
that would have to be sold could be lowered from the maximum of 11 lots to a
Minutes for the Meeting of April 17, 1990 2
minimum of 8 lots depending on prices asked and how long it took to sell them.
He added that under the current plan, the Town would control the development
by taking control of the general partnership entity upon the completion of
construction.
Mr. Domnitz asked what the effect would be if the top income level, up to
$47,000, were eliminated in order to have more units available at lower income
levels. Mr. Posner noted that one of the criteria contained in the request
for proposal was that there be a variety of income levels included in the
development, but if that was the direction the Board wanted to explore, they
would figure out if it is feasible.
Mr. Williams commented that what disappointed him the most was the proposal to
sell lots as part of the financing package for construction of the affordable
housing. In response to his questions, Mr. Posner reported that the lots to
be sold are laid out as single family lots, but that they could be clustered.
Mr. Williams also questioned why guest parking was located in the road, and
why the affordable housing was located on the Meagherville site and the single
family lots were located facing the golf course.
In response to other questions from the Board, Mr. Bowyer commented that the
Board of Selectmen would retain control of all the land surrounding the "pod"
that contains the housing, yards, driveways and roadway. He added that the
amount of land required to contain the 40 housing units would have to be
sufficient to contain 40 single family housing lots that conform to the zoning
there. Mrs. Wood also commented that there had not been time to come in for
an RD development for this Town Meeting.
98. Article 56 Presentation of Development Proposal by the Neighborhood
Group Jay Kaufman and Al Levine made the presentation for the Precinct 8
Residents' Association. Mr. Kaufman presented a concept plan prepared by
Landscape Architect Gary Larson. He noted the differences; namely they have
pursued a "no through road" option as much as possible. The Association
opposed a through road; are proposing 20 units of affordable housing; and
oppose sale of Town owned land. They realized they had a serious zoning
problem if there was no through road since Cedar Street is a cul-de-sac with
little or no possibility of lengthening it. That is why they propose only 20
affordable housing units. Mr. Levine presented Mr. Larson's plan showing 20
town houses, that would meet all zoning regulations.
In response to questions from the Board, Mr. Levine stated they could not
cover construction costs from the rental receipts. They propose that two
units would be one bedroom, nine two bedroom and nine three bedroom. They
envision the site as being a special residential development for purposes of
Town Meeting, and that the Town would retain ownership of all the land.
In response to questions from the Board as to how the Town will manage the
construction and operation of the housing under their proposal, Mr. Levine
commented there would probably have to be a new request for proposal put out,
similar to what was previously done. Mr. Bowyer commented that from a zoning
perspective, it would not require a Town rezoning, and could be administered
jointly by the Selectmen and a housing entity.
Minutes for the Meeting of April 17, 1990 3
In response to a recommendation from Mr. Williams that the Fremont Street Town
owned land be considered for development of affordable housing, Mr. Bowyer
pointed out that the public purpose of the acquisition of that parcel was for
recreation, which places it in the same restricted category as land acquired
for conservation purposes and would require a 2/3 vote of the Town Meeting and
both houses of the State legislature. Mr. Williams said he wished to see more
small scattered sites throughout Town.
Mr. Levine reviewed the financial portion of their proposal and said it would
involve an application for a TELLER loan of approximately 1.1 million and an
investment of a sizable amount of the money from LexHAB.
99. Review of Draft Planning Board Renort on Article 55: The Board discussed
a draft report dated 4-14-90, and the presentation made to the Board tonight
by the Community Builders.
Mr Williams moved, and Mrs. Uhrig seconded, a motion that the Planning Board
recommend disapproval of Article 55 based on the Community Builders' proposal
as it has been shown to the Planning Board this evening. Subsequently, Mrs.
Uhrig suggested that the motion be amended, which Mr. Williams accepted, that
a reason for recommending disapproval is that the Planning Board has not been
given sufficient time to make a rational evaluation of the proposal.
In discussion on the motion, as amended, Board members indicated their
position on several issues. Mrs. Uhrig and Mr. Williams believe an RD
rezoning petition, with an accompanying more specific plan, should be sub-
mitted rather than the current procedure which leaves too many details to be
worked out after the Town Meeting vote. Mr. Williams expressed his opposition
to the through road from Garfield Street to Cedar Street. He was opposed to
the use of the better land, near the golf course, for market rate house lots
with the affordable housing located on less desirable land. Mrs. Uhrig was
not opposed to a through road but objected to either selling, or "giving away"
Town owned land for market rate house lots. Mrs. Uhrig, joined by Mr.
Williams, was willing to accept a higher density development to subsidize the
affordable housing units in preference to sale of Town owned land for market
rate house lots.
In a straw vote, the Board agreed unanimously that the Town should retain
control (ownership) of land, not only the market rate house lots, but the site
of the affordable housing as well, if possible, forever.
The motion, as amended, was that a majority of the Planning Board recommend
that Article 55 be disapproved because: 1) it is opposed to the sale of Town
owned land for market rate house lots, 2) the proposal has not been submitted
to the Planning Board in time for a rational evaluation of it, and 3) the
Town should retain ownership (control) of the land. The motion, was adopted
by a 3-2 vote, with members Domnitz, Uhrig and Williams in favor and members
Klauminzer and Wood opposed.
In its report to the Town Meeting, it was agreed to include positions, about
the development of affordable housing on the Pine Meadows-Meagherville site,
Minutes for the Meeting of April 17, 1990 4
on which the Board, including some members who voted against the motion,
agreed. The Board, by 4-1, with Mr. Domnitz in opposition to these positions,
will state it believes 1) the density of development, on this large site, is
too low, 2) the Pine Meadows-Meagherville site is an excellent location for
affordable housing, and 3) that the site is good, but disagree with this
proposal. Mrs. Klauminzer observed that this essentially means that the Board
disagrees with the guidelines included in the Request for Proposal by the Pine
Meadows Site Development Committee.
100. Discussion of Board Position on Article 56: The Board gave direction to
the staff for preparation of the Planning Board report on Article 56. Mrs.
Uhrig moved, and Mr. Domnitz seconded, that the Planning Board recommend
disapproval of Article 56. Mrs. Uhrig thought that the density was too low
and that the lack of a through road precluded development of the rest of the
Meagherville / Pine Meadow site. Mr. Williams said he would not vote for the
motion because too much of the Town's money ($700,000 of LexHAB's money) would
be concentrated in one location, and the financing was too uncertain. He
added he would not favor a through road. Mr. Domnitz said he did not object
to a through road, but objected to the whole proposition for policy reasons.
Mrs. Klauminzer had concerns about the financing and the lack of a through
road, and commented that she would find this plan acceptable if it were the
first stage of a multi-stage development.
The Board voted 5-0 to recommend Article 56 be disapproved.
( The meeting was adjourned at 11:03 p.m.
David G. Williams, Clerk