HomeMy WebLinkAbout1970-02-23-CONCOM-min.pdf' loilk /Oh 4M4i.igi.
11 1
i
TOWN OF LEXINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS
. CONSERVATION COMMISSION
MINUTES of Commission meeting February 23, 1970.
Jjk
i4, The meeting was called to order by the Chairman, Mr. Brown at
8 00 p.m. Present Mrs. Frick and Messrs Mazerall, Smith,
t
Sussman -and Totman, plus the following residents of the' .Maple
�
Street area Rob.ert _Do-lham, Stanley Harris, Charles Hyde,
i ' Norman Jacobs, Sumner Madow and Weiant Wathen-Dunn - all.
° present to hear and participate in discussion -pf Development
y, Cor-porat;ion' s plans for development of 30 acres between. .Fes; .
y,` t 'senden arWMunro.e, --Brooks.,, Louis Stoico -and his lawyer Norman
is ;, ;Richards; were present Vor, Development Corp:.
44 -.";?3,, Developmrent Corporation Proposed Plans Mr.- Richards fii st r
showed a,map? or the, two l =
5acre parcels, subdivided us
into 'hoe-
lots -according to plans- -already -approved by the PlanningBoard.
$ s ; One of the, ;subdivision plans. has not yet been signed by the.
,Yh . + Planning Board a+t 'Mr. Stoico' s request, since a zoning Change,
for the land. has 'been requested in citizen-petition artic%la
{ ; No.. 102- in .the Town. Warrant (-calling for new RM-multi family
:, ic
dwelling distrt) If. .Ar:ticle- 102 is not approved, the
;;gym single. hou_se plans will go into effect
pti The multi-dwelling units proposed by Development Corp. would
. place. 6,-9' town housed per.. ,acre and occupy 24% of the land with
to buildings roads, :and g g
4,. g , parkin. areas. Trees -and , radPs would
remain 4as existin'g?, insofar as. possible. Land which is peaty
.. M and boggy,, as determined, by the, engineer hired 'by Mr. Stoirco„
, would rnott be b +iylt upon. This type of land "is uneconomical
wl, to oilosop "ex rept- for large government buildings '(Bowman
School an example)"', stated Mr. Richards.
,k, An MDC trunk seer trunk crosses the land and a roughd';-
eout'
w °Yroadbed�goe,s. atlotngsi,�de. The 'sewer trunk will not serve the ,'
• A. 4r devrele merit.,, tVork, on relocation of Munroe and Fe'ss:enden Bro,oks�
.4. liras n tnteen completed,, with Wat•er in both the new and,zold �x Vie`
+, - c6,14 a i i 4 sp r .ttr Fro
a 4o1rses,- (Locs,l, resida�nts cample,insd that they haute mor ilii .E_
,` . in th ,3'r rads (andr`baaements %ince the relocation. They "ex- '
„u, ress"edconcerun that, development of land across the. brookcfrom*
'"them ,would causes even, more flooding) . Mr. Stoioo said, the t rooks
fin„ , ou
wldihave ,to 3e finished, befo.3e he could build. ,5,,,v,-.;
•s W it xi
t'Mr. Wathen '® ' n itold 4of Athe progreg:s of dredging work on the k.
4 other ide of M�aplehr,Str`eet to improve the flow of 14unroe Brook.,,a'
4E".; " 4,� u(r. S' ri�th� exp,Ia{ined to. those present the concept- of c�onserva-
5 "' i o ti,
4Vtion earsements.
F
�, f ix a as �I-it '}r F 1.•''4 'IC 'Out r> ' If
d" wag; pointe°/sthat,_ property owners iri- the areawoul
04.
; d have“ legal. =a:
t�` ,*r . recourse iif they"could p+rove that, the, development -p;f land nearby
�„ ., ha
ad- dversely affected them Mr `Sussman recommended a?t a
`tht the
, ` .rr+tF. uforthc_oming .Planning Board hearing on the rezoning, the neighbor-
.,; '
17 r,
,,7 1i rl%.i -
EB 2'5
Conservation Commission minutes 2/23/70 Page 2
hood group produce maps showing what they know of the area.
Mr. Stoico and Mr. Richards emphasized that the engineer they
hired would plan drainage carefully. All their plans also
would have to be approved by the Town Engineer.
The meeting with Mr. Stoico and Mr. Richards continued in
executive session.
Bedford Street Hatch Act Compliance. A letter from Merlon
Ritter to the Board of Selectmen expressed concern that the
builders were filling wetlands too close to the brook. Mr.
McSweeney appeared to say that he checked the quality and lo-
cation of the fill and it is O.K. The brook is actually far-
ther away from the fill area than shown on the original plans,
he stated.
Hayden Avenue Area The option on the Area Realty Trust land
has been exercised. The options on the remaining parcels in
the area have been extended for a month in order that ques-
tions such as location of sewer easements and resurvey findings
can be settled.
Eminent Domain. Questions, misunderstandings and ill feelings
came out in various precinct candidates ' meetings last Thursday.
over the use of eminent domain for conservation land or ease-
ment acquisition. Commission members felt that an explanation
such as the excellent one given by Mr. Blaisdell at the Pct.
2 meeting should appear in the newspaper. Mrs. Prick will work
on this.
Hobbs Brook Area. Mrs. Frick reported on the Planning Board' s
meeting with Mrs Broderick-O'Brien, the chief architect of
the Metropolitan Area Planning Council' s Open Space Plan, on
the proposed rezoning of the land next to the Cambridge Water
Lands and Waltham. The MAPC plan would incorporate this land
in a water-recreation area to encompass land in all municipali-
ties surrounding Hobbs Brook Basin. For this reason the MAPC
is opposed to re oning. After brief discussion the Commission
decided to record its opposition on the following bases
1) The area is part of the MAPC Open Space Plan
2) Surrounded by Hobbs Brook, the area has many
recreational possibilities.
Mr. Sussman expressed regret that the prevalent real estate tax
squeeze should cause townspeople to be looking for additional
sources of tax dollars. This area, he said, is not the place
for an office park.
Budget. Mr. Brown reported only $400 appropriated for "land
improvement" This means no picnic area in Swenson Farm; only
a little maintenance.
Conservation Commission minutes 2/23/70 page '3
OSA - 51 - Mr. Brown reported all is in order on this contract.
The Requisition for Grant must now be sent in, so that the
Town will be reimbursed.
OSA - 60 - It was the understanding of the Commission that an
extension of Time of Performance had been granted in HUll' s
letter of 1/30/70. However, their letter of 2/9/70 says
an extension must be requested if needed The letter of
Feb. 9 will be acknowledged, enclosing a copy of their
Jan. 30 letter to straighten this out.
March Meetings of the Commission. It was agreed that meetings
should be scheduled at the regular time the first two Mondays
of March and at 7 30 the last three Mondays, when Town. Meeting
will be in session
The meeting adjourned at 11 10 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
r6 s *,
Mrs Erna S. Greene, Secretary
To the Commission