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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning Board minutes 1989-08-14 1 i PLANNING BOARD MINUTES MEETING OF AUGUST 14, 1989 The meeting of the Lexington Planning Board, held in Room G-15, Town Office Building, was called to order at 7: 38 p.m. by the Vice Chairman, Mrs. Klaumin- zer, with members Sorensen, Williams, Uhrig, Planning Director Bowyer, Assistant Planner Nordby, Zoning Officer Joseph Marino and Secretary Peters present. Chairman Wood was absent. 199. Review of Minutes: The Board reviewed the minutes for the meeting of June 26, 1989, making corrections. On the motion of Mr. Sorensen, seconded by Mrs. Uhrig, it was voted 4-0 to approve the minutes, as amended. The Board reviewed the minutes for the meeting of July 10, 1989. On the motion of Mr. Sorensen, seconded by Mrs. Uhrig, it was voted 4-0 to approve the minutes, as written. The Board reviewed the minutes for the meeting of July 31, 1989, making corrections. On the motion of Mrs. Uhrig, seconded by Mr. Williams, it was voted 4-0 to approve the minutes, as amended. ********************** REPORTS *****************9e******************9e**fie**** 200. Planning Director a. Affordable Housing Techniques: Mr. Bowyer reported there would be ) a joint meeting of the Affordable Housing Options Committee and the Pine Meadows/Meagherville Site Development Committee tomorrow evening. They will hear presentations by Richard Walker of the Mass. Housing Partner- ship and by Jean Van Orman, housing consultant. Ms. Van Orman will present various techniques for building affordable housing, and Mr. Walker will discuss what programs and financing are currently available, following state budget cuts. b. Montesorri School: Mr. Bowyer distributed some material dealing with a case, recently decided, that holds that a municipality may not require a special permit for an educational or religious use. Based on this case, Town Counsel has told the Building Department they should issue the building permit when Montesorri School applies for one. The school has offered to discuss their proposal with the Board, if invited to do so, prior to their applying for a building permit, which they are tentatively planning to do in mid-September. It was noted that general zoning requirements of the district, such as dimensional controls and parking standards, would still apply. The Town would no longer have the authority to require a special permit for a religious or educational use, dealing with the particulars of the situation. Mr. Bowyer noted that the statute mentions intensity of development or bulk, under which Lexington's FAR requirement may fall, as something that still can be regulated by the municipalities. The Board deferred deciding whether they wished to meet with the school until there is a full board. **************** ADMINISTRATION OF LAND DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS ************* Minutes for the Meeting of August 14, 1989 2 SUBDIVISION OF LAND 201. Rollout of Plans Recently Submitted (prior to staff review) a. Preliminary Plan, Pond Court, Lowell Street : The Board reviewed the plan which was submitted August 8. 202. Pheasant Brook II Determination Application is Incomplete: The Board reviewed a letter, dated August 10, 1989, from the Planning Director to Robert Cataldo informing him that the submittal for the definitive subdivision plan and the special permit with site plan review is incomplete and is not accepted for processing. Ms. Nordby reported she has talked with Mr. Cataldo about the deficiencies in the submission of the definitive plan filed, that was returned for incomplete- ness, and that she will meet with BSC - Bedford, as soon as possible to go over what needs to be done to before the plan is refiled. Mr. Sorensen noted that a comment had recently been made to the Board that it appears the permit granting process may be one reason for increases in the cost of housing in Lexington, and that steps should be taken to try to correct this, if true. He added that the Board itself had hoped, in the June 26 meeting that a resubmission by Pheasant Brook II would not require another three months to process, and that he could see now that it probably will take that long. In response, the Board noted the submission was incomplete, and that this is really the fault of the people who prepared the submission, rather than the Town's guidelines in the Development Regulations and Zoning By-Law. The Board reviewed a draft motion that determined the application was incom- plete, and reaffirmed the action of its designee, the Planning Director, in notifying that the applicant that the submission was incomplete, since the 14 days allowed for preliminary review of the submission for completeness would have elapsed before the Planning Board's next meeting. On the motion of Mrs. Uhrig, seconded by Mrs. Klauminzer, it was voted 3-0-1 (Mr. Williams abstained): That under the provisions of paragraph 5.4.4 b 4, of the Development Regulations and paragraph 3.5.1.2 of the Zoning By-Law, the Planning Board determines that the application for approval of a definitive subdivision plan and for a special permit with site plan review for the Pheasant Brook II subdivision is incomplete, is not considered to have been filed and is not accepted for processing for the reasons set forth in the Planning Director's letter to the applicant dated August 10, 1989; and the Planning Board reaffirms the action of its designee, the Planning Director, in notifying the applicant that the application is incomplete. 203. Ridge Estates II, East Emerson Road, Update: Ms. Nordby reported that last Thursday, all road and landscaping work required to finish the road to Town standards, has been completed to the satisfaction of almost all of the residents, the developer, Mr. Freeman, and the Town planning and engineering departments. Mr. Bowyer commented that this result has been achieved by the remarkable work and patience of Ms. Nordby and George Samaha of the Engineer- ing Department who have put in untold hours, including nights and weekends, Minutes for the Meeting of August 14, 1989 3 meeting with all the residents. He thought this was an extraordinary achieve- ment because a potentially messy situation has been diffused by staff effort to the point that there have been practically no phone calls or letters to elected officials. 204. Turnburry Hill, Otis Brown: The Board discussed a letter, dated August 10, 1989, from the Robinson Hill Association to the Board, stating that the developer has "flagrantly ignored and violated the General Conditions issued by the Planning Board" by beginning construction of the dwellings before the binder course had been installed on the roadway. They asked that a stop work order be issued by the Board because building permits had been issued to begin this work, in violation of the General Conditions. As a result of this, Mr. Bowyer reported there had been a meeting at the site with Otis Brown, the Town Manager, the Assistant Planner, Engineering Assis- tant Maria Bililies, Zoning Officer, Joe Marino, and himself. It was general- ly agreed that building permits should not have been issued for the work going on prior to the completion of the binder coat on the roadway. It was also agreed that Mr. Brown would be allowed to make the existing building weather- tight, and that no more construction on other houses would be done until the binder course is in. The Town Manager will prepare a letter stating all this, and the Board agreed to support this solution. PLANS NOT REQUIRING APPROVAL UNDER THE SUBDIVISION CONTROL LAW 205. Form A/89-6, Forest Street and Clarke Street, Richard Perry: The Board reviewed a plan showing the transfer of some back land (Lot B) from Lot C to Lot A with no change in the frontages of either lot, and both lots having more than the required lot area for the zoning district. On the motion of Mr. Sorensen, seconded by Mrs. Uhrig, it was voted 4-0: to endorse the plan entitled "Plan of Land in Lexington, Mass. for Richard Perry", dated July 24, 1989, by T & M Engineering Associates , Inc. , certified by Erland E. Townsend, Jr., Professional Land Surveyor, with application Form A/89-6 by Richard Perry, applicant, as it does not require approval under the Subdivision Control Law. Mr. Sorensen noted the word "contiguous" shown on the plan should be changed to "continuous". RECOMMENDATIONS ON APPLICATIONS TO THE BOARD OF APPEALS 206. Hearings Scheduled for August 24, 1989: Mr. Sorensen gave an oral review of the following hearings scheduled to be heard by the Board of Appeals : 57 Bedford Street, Lumberyard Realty Trust, variances, to allow office use on a street level floor, office space to occupy a total of more than 50% of the floor area in a building, and to remove the 2,500 sq.ft. floor area limit one company may occupy for offices in a commercial building. Mr. Bowyer and Mr. Marino reported that the building permit, to construct the shell only, was issued January 8, 1986, and the shell of the office building was essentially completed prior to the 1987 comprehensive commercial revisions to the Zoning By-Law. Minutes for the Meeting of August 14, 1989 4 The situation today is that the area is in the CRS, retail shopping district, which does not allow office use on the street level floor; offices may not occupy more than 50% of the building; and the size of an office for one company may not be more than 2,500 sq.ft. of floor area. The transition period after which the nonconforming status of any building ends is 18 months after the issuance of the building permit, and after this any construction must comply with the today's require- ments of the Zoning By-Law. The Board agreed that the intent in 1986 was to build an office build- ing, and they felt that office use of the street level floor and the limit of offices not occupying more than 50% of the building are grandfathered, because that was the intent of the original building permit, but that the other dimensional controls should still apply, since it was the developer's choice to not develop the interior of the building at the time of construction. On the motion of Mr. Sorensen, seconded by Mr. Williams, it was voted 4- 0 to recommend: 1) that both office use on the street floor and the limiting to 50% the amount of office use allowed in the building be considered by the Board of Appeals to be grandfathered and therefore be allowed, but that the present By-Law provisions regulating the size of the offices should apply; and 2) to recommend the variance be denied since grounds for a variance, as defined by the Zoning Act, have not been demonstrated. 57 Bedford Street, Lumberyard Realty Trust, SP, in accordance with Sec. 6.3.3 of the Zoning By-Lay to allow office uses to the extent permitted by By-Law at the time the building permit was issued. The Board agreed this special permit, dealing with the substitution of nonconforming uses did not apply since the use had not been established. 55 Hill Street, Lexington Golf Club, variance, from 25 foot setback requirement of Sec. 11.6.2 of the Zoning By-Law to allow an extension to the parking area to be constructed with a line of hemlock trees as the only setback from the right-of-way of 55 Hill Street. The Board noted that from the information submitted, it appears there is sufficient room to comply with the Zoning By-Law, without intruding into the 25 foot setback. On the motion of Mr. Sorensen, seconded by Mr. Williams, it was voted unanimously to recommend that the variance be denied. 55 Hill Street, Lexington Golf Club, SP, in accordance with Sec. 10.6.1 of the Zoning By-Law to modify a 25 foot transition area screening requirement to allow an extension to the golf club parking area to be constructed with a line of hemlock trees as the only setback from the right-of-way of 55 Hill Street. On the motion of Mr. Sorensen, seconded by Mr. Williams, it was voted unanimously to recommend the special permit be denied for the same reason given above. 211 Mass. Avenue, Sally Loh, SP, to operate a restaurant and take-out food service in the CRS district. The Board did not object to the use of this building as a restaurant. However, they questioned whether there was room for 60 seats, as applied for, when the original special permit allowed only 20 seats. Minutes for the Meeting of August 14, 1989 5 On the motion of Mr. Sorensen, seconded by Mr. Williams, it was voted unanimously to recommend that the Board of Appeals require the instal- lation of scrubbers, to remove offensive odors, as a condition for granting the special permit. The Planning Board also agreed to make no comment on the following applica- tions, scheduled for August 24, 1989: 25 Maple Street, Joanne Setzer, SP, second floor addition at the rear of a nonconforming dwelling. 5 Center Street, Gatewood West , variance, to replace and extend a front porch of a nonconforming dwelling with front yard setbacks of 20 feet to the porch and 16.5 feet front steps instead of the required 30 feet. 207. Hearings Scheduled for September 7, 1989: Mrs. Uhrig gave an oral review of the following applications scheduled to be heard by the Board of Appeals. 9 Solomon Pierce Road, Danny and Yentl Nominee Trust , variance, to allow a garden shed to remain as constructed with a side yard setback of 12.5 feet instead of the required 15 feet. The Board noted that the shed was built in violation of the building permit issued. On the motion of Mr. Sorensen, seconded by Mrs. Uhrig, it was voted unanimously to recommend the variance be denied and the applicant be required to bring the situation into compliance with the Zoning By-Law. 186 Bedford Street, Community Human Services, to amend SP to extend permitted hours of operation. The Board was unable to reach a consen- sus on whether the hours of operations should be extended as listed in the legal notice. They believed the concerns of the neighbors were important, and that it was important to be able to offer weekend hours to persons that may be unable to be served during the week. On the motion of Mr. Sorensen, seconded by Mr. Williams, it was voted 4-0 to recommend Saturday hours be allowed, but that there be no hours of operation permitted on Sunday. 4 Jackson Court, John & Donna Harrison, SP to add a 1/2 story dormer to the rear of a nonconforming 2-story home. The Board believed the size of the proposed 2 1/2 story addition would overpower both the neighbor- hood and the existing house, leaving practically no side yards. On the motion of Mrs. Uhrig, seconded by Mr. Williams, it was voted unanimously to recommend the special permit be denied, for the reasons above. 4 Jackson Court, John & Donna Harrison, Variance, to add a 2 1/2 story addition to the side of a nonconforming dwelling with a front yard setback of 23.8 feet instead of the required 30 feet. On the motion of Mrs. Uhrig, seconded by Mr. Williams, it was voted unanimously to recommend the variance be denied since no hardship, as defined by the Zoning Act, was demonstrated. { Minutes for the Meeting of August 14, 1989 6 r—� The Board also agreed to make no comment on the following applications. 46 Farmcrest Avenue, Thomas Ryan, SP, to extend the second floor over the nonconforming portion of a dwelling with no change in site coverage. 46 Farmcrest Avenue, Thomas Ryan, variance to add two bay windows to the front of a nonconforming dwelling with a front yard setback of 21.6 feet to the overhang instead of the required 30 feet. COMPREHENSIVE PERMIT 208. Development of Northgate Property on Waltham Street: The Board approved a letter, dated August 16, 1989, responding to letters from concerned resi- dents about a proposed development on the west side of Waltham Street near the Waltham City line, prepared at the Board's request. The meeting was adjourned at 9: 54 p.m. David G. Williams, Clerk I 1