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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning Board Minutes 1992-09-09 PLANNING BOARD MINUTES MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 9,1992 The meeting of the Lexington Planning Board held in Room G-3, Town Office Building, was called to order at 7:40 p.m. by Vice-Chairman Domnitz, with members Davison and Wood, and Planning Director Bowyer present, Mr. Williams and Mr. Grant were absent. ************************ PLANNING DIRECTOR'S REPORT *********************** 128. Staff Reports. a. Tracer Lane LitiEation. Mr. Bowyer reported on the rehearing of the Tracer Lane case in the Land Court on Friday, August 28, when he again testified for the Town. b. Staff Assignments Mr. Bowyer reported that Assistant Planner Marino is doing some work for the Assessing Department and will be working with other Town officials in the new computer network which is being installed. Due to the departure of Assistant Town Manager, Deb Radway, to take another position, Mr. Bowyer will spend more of his time than usual in preparing the Capital Improvements Program for the Town Manager. c. John Sellars Land. Mr. Bowyer described a meeting held earlier in the day involving representatives of the Planning Board, the Conservation Commis- sion and the Board of Selectmen and the Town Manager to review the various issues in the development of land off Concord Avenue now owned by John Sellars. ***************** ADMINISTRATION OF LAND DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS ************ SUBDIVISION OF LAND 129. Taylor Lane: Mr Bowyer reported that he had received the signed surety documents and the bank passbook from the developer. The Board discussed the wording of the standard motion used for setting surety. On the motion of Mrs. Wood, seconded by Mrs. Davison, the Board voted 3-0 1) To set the amount of surety for the Taylor Lane subdivision at $29,500, which is the total remaining "Cost to Construct," plus contin- gency, escalation deposit, and administrative costs, as the amount necessary to hold until the completion of the community facilities and the subdivision; 2) that this level of surety is determined to be sufficient through September 9, 1993 only. If the subdivision is not completed by that time, the amount of surety needed may be re-evaluated to determine its relationship between the then applicable construction costs and the work remaining to be completed. If little or none of the work that remained at the time this surety was posted is completed by September 9, 1993, and the current costs of the amount of work to be completed have increased, the amount of surety will be increased to reflect the costs of completing the work and the developer will be required to furnish additional surety to the Planning Board; Minutes for the Meeting of September 9, 1992 2 3) to accept surety in the form of a Lexington Savings Bank, passbook g p sbook #00-001078486, in the amount of $29,500 00; and, 4) to release lot numbers 3 and 4 *********************** ARTICLES FOR 1993 TOWN MEETING *********************** 130. Possible Zoning Amendments The Board reviewed a list of subjects men- tioned by the Board during the course of the year as possible zoning amend- ments to be brought before the 1993 Town Meeting. The Board will not propose an amendment, as suggested by John McWeeney of the Board of Appeals, to improve wording of the section of the By-Law dealing with expansion of a two-family house. The Board is not necessarily opposed to his suggestion but does not think there are enough instances of the type he describes to warrant an amendment. Changing the By-Law to define what constitutes major and minor revisions is difficult. This issue was raised by Brookhaven's request to add beds to the nursing facility and make other changes It was agreed that at least a time limit could be set on when the Board of Appeals may approve revisions to a special permit in an RD or CD district. The definition of "family" needs to be revised to make it consistent with the newly enacted Federal Americans with Disabilities Act. There was extensive discussion of adjustments to the sign section of the Lexington Zoning By-Law. Mr. Domnitz suggested that it may be advantageous to make minor amendments spread over a number of years in view of the difficulty in obtaining a consensus on a complete rewrite. Mrs. Davison disagreed with that approach as she believes a new package should be prepared for adoption as a General By-Law Mrs. Davison advocated extending the jumbo house provision to all new dwelling units It now applies only in conventional subdivisions Mr. Domnitz will talk to Mr. Williams and they will draft an amendment. Mrs. Davison reported that Peter Kelley has advocated more flexibility in z regulations dealing with cul-de-sacs Before any further action, it was agreed he needs to clarify whether the problems need to be solved by an amendment to the Zoning By-Law or to the Subdivision Regulations. 01 Work on the zoning amendments will be scheduled for the September 30 meeting O The staff was requested to draft the amendments dealing with the definition of "family" and the difference between major and minor revisions. Mr Domnitz, Mr. Williams and Mrs. Davison will draft the amendments dealing with the jumbo house provision and with sign adjustments. ************************ REGIONAL, INTERTOWN ISSUES ************************* 131. Metropolitan State Hospital Land Re-use Task Force_: Mrs. Davison reported on the task force meeting earlier in the day. Many groups are proposing that the wetlands be transferred to the Metropolitan District Commission. The property will be declared surplus as of September 15, 1992 with a four to six month lag before the State issues requests for proposals Minutes for the Meeting of September 9, 1992 3 ******************* PLANNING BOARD ORGANIZATION, SCHEDULE ******************* 132. Subdivision Reeulations It was agreed to set aside the first one and one half hours of the September 30 meeting for work on the Subdivision Regulations which were not covered at this meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 9 54 p m. • C.,“- Edmund C. Grant, Clerk IV Ito X542 4