Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1974-11-21 LEXINGTON HOUSING AUTHORITY HEARING - November 21, 1974 LHA A regular meeting of the Board of Appeals was held on Thursday, November 21, 1974 in the Selectmen's Meeting Room of the Town Office Building at 7:30 p m Present were: Chairman, D E Nickerson; regular members L Clarke, Jr and W Brodhead; and associate members Natalie Riff in and Haskell Reed Also present were a Minute-Man reporter and a room full of townspeople The public hearing on the petition of Lexington Housing Authority was held, notice having been mailed to the petitioner and to the owners of all property deemed by the Board to be affected including the abutters and owners of land next adjoining the land of the abutters as they appear on the most recent local tax list and also advertised in the Lexington Minute-Man, a newspaper published in Lexington, which is all as required by law Also notified, as usual, were: the Town Manager, Building Inspector, Planning Board, Town Engineer, Conservation Commission and Board of Health The Chairman read the notice Lexington Housing Authority requests variances from the provisions of Section 27, and other applicable provisions of the zoning by-law, to allow for the construc- tion of 3 single family dwellings on the lots numbered 314-315-316, 317-318-319 and 320-321-322 Wood Street Each group of three lots consists of 9,000 sq ft , more or less, said dwellings being located within one foot of the existing front lot lines on lots 320-321-322 and 317-318-319 Wood Street and within 8 feet of the III existing front lot line of lots numbered 314-315-316 Wood Street These lots are opposite Wildwood Road and shown on a certain plan of land entitled "Topographical Plan of Land in Lexington, Mass ", dated October 9, 1974, Albert A. Miller-Wilbur C Nylander The Lexington Housing Authority is in the process of acquiring the said lots from the Town of Lexington It is anticipated that the Town of Lexington will convey additional land to the Lexington Housing Authority and that a 30' set- back will exist following the acquisition of the additional land Mr William J Dailey, Jr , counsel for the Lexington Housing Authority, repre- sented the petitioner and provided the plans, also pictures of the houses intended to be located on two tax-title lots (see folder for plans and pictures ) He stated that this land was originally laid out in March 1910 and in 1930 the County Commis- sioners relocated Wood Street leaving the intervening strip between the new and old Wood Street, some of which the Lexington Housing Authority intends to acquire from the Town of Lexington, reducing the requirement for setback variances In addition to the tax title lots, Mr Dailey indicated that representatives of the LHA had met with the Board of Selectmen and had discussed the possibility of the Town conveying to LHA the land located between the tax title lots and the present layout of Wood Street He said that they have an agreement to move the house before a date certain The 1972 Town Meeting by Article 67 gave the Selectmen the authority to convey tax title lots to the Housing Authority to allow them to be used for low and moder- ate cost housing It is anticipated that an Article will appear in the 1975 Town Warrant requesting that the Board of Selectmen be authorized to convey to the Lex- ington Housing Authority the interest of the Town of Lexington in the land located between the present tax title lots and the present layout of Wood Street The Lexington Housing Authority has purchased from the National Park Service two single family dwellings located within the present confines of the Minute Man National Park It is the intention of the Lexington Housing Authority to move November 21, 1974 hearing (continued) -2 one of these dwellings onto one of the Wood Street lots The one house will be moved to the lot designated as Lot 3, formerly Lots 114-115-116 and it is expected to be moved in December The other house which has been acquired will be moved to Philip Road It is anticipated that these homes will be used as residences by single families Only one house will be moved to Lot 3 at this time Permission has been requested to construct two additional houses on the two remaining lots if the opportunity should arise The only variances requested relate to front yard setbacks The setback will be measured from its location on the lot to the orig- inal boundary line of old Wood Street The extra land, in front of the lot and left by the relocation of Wood Street may not be used in calculating the front yard setback because it will only become a part of the tax title lot after a favorable vote at the 1975 Town Meeting When placed on the lot it will have a front yard setback of 8 feet, although it will have a setback of more than the required 30 feet when, and if, the extra front land is obtained Chairman: Who will own and maintain the houses? Mr Dailey These will be owned and maintained by the housing authority and tenants will be selected by them Chairman How will access to the lots be gained? Mr Dailey From the new Wood Street over a long driveway just like the one which services an existing house on an abutting lot Mr Reed You will have a 12 ft wide driveway? Will it be necessary to remove large trees? Mr Dailey The driveway will not exceed 12 feet in width and every attempt will be made to remove as few trees as possible This lot (lot 3) is the closest one to the street which should mean removal of fewer trees in actually locating the house on the land Mrs Rif fin Could you tell us more about the house? Mr Dailey The one house to be installed is known as the Risch House It is a 1k story, colonial design house with two-car garage attached It will have a kitchen, dining room, living room, bathroom, small bedroom and den on the first floor; and three bedrooms and a bathroom on the second floor It is 15 years old The Risch house was purchased at auction for $3,560 The other house purchased from the National Park was purchased at the same auction for $4,150 Mr Clark Is this the house from which the woman disappeared (Joan Risch)? Answer: Yes, about ten years ago (Foul play was suspected, but her body has never been found ) Little is being said about this Hopefully discussion of this can be kept to a minimum Mr Clarke: I have a couple of questions Do you really have to move the house by a time certain? Why not wait until after the 1975 Town Meeting? Then you would know whether a variance is actually needed or not Mr Dailey We have an agreement with the Park Service that the house must be moved by a date certain in December November 21, 1974 hearing (continued) -3 Mr Clarke: The Selectmen have agreed orally to put an article in the warrant this coming March? Answer Yes, we met with the Selectmen Members questioned why a variance was needed to approve a lot with an area of 9,000 ft since the 1910 plan was recorded and the lots are therefore legal build- ing lots (The Planning Board was of the opinion a variance was needed for area ) Chairman: Would anyone like to speak in favor of the petition? NO RESPONSE Chairman Would anyone like to speak in opposition? William Bean, 97 Wood St We live directly opposite this site and we like the woodsy atmosphere I have been always under the impression a house would go in there but thought it would be a new home I hope you consider the traffic situa- tion and the feasibility of putting a 15-year-old house on a 65-year-old lot Will that be in keeping with the neighborhood? John Paradis, who owns land across the street (his home address is 90 Everett St , Arlington) had no objection He said that he owned two thirty foot lots, Lots 312 and 313 shown on plan "Colonial Heights" I'm curious as to how this will affect my lots Chairman I presume that if you ask to build a house on the 2130 ft lots,you will probably get it Paul Howland, corner of Wildwood Rd & Wood St Why don't they combine the 9 lots into 2 lots with 135 ft of frontage instead of 3 with only 90? Mr Dailey. The question came up at the time we were discussing this The two lots across the street have 100 ft of frontage and two others have 80 for an average of 90 ft 1 Mr Reed They could build a house on each one of the lots since they are legal and were recorded as individual building lots in 1910 Also present on behalf of this petition were Mr Temple E Scanlon, Executive Director of the LHA; Mr Adler, Architect; Joseph 0 Rooney, LHA chairman; and Mr Beaman, LHA member Mr Rooney rose to thank the Board for listening Following is a copy of each of the Warrant Articles - 67, 68 and 69: Article 67 To see if the Town will vote to amend section 16 of article VI of the general by-laws by substituting for the text thereof the following In addition to any authority now or hereafter vested in them by law or by any 111 special or standing vote of the town, the selectmen may sell and convey to any public agency or non-profit corporation, or to any other person or corporation approved by the LHA and undertaking to provide housing on the land so sold or conveyed for the use of the said Authority, for less than fair market value, any lots, not to exceed a total of 38 such lots on a town wide basis, meeting the requirements of the Lexing- ton zoning by-law for buildable lots (including such lots conforming to the provisions November 21, 1974 hearing (continued) -4 III of subsection 26 5 thereof) now or hereafter taken, or otherwise acquired, for non- payment of taxes, the right of redemption of which has been or shall be foreclosed or otherwise terminated, upon such terms and conditions as the selectmen shall deem proper and also as they may deem necessary to assure that each such lot or combina- tion of lots so conveyed will have a frontage of not less than 45 feet and will be used to provide housing for not more than one household of low or moderate income eligible to be assisted under any government program designed to provide such hous- ing, in which housing such occupants may have the opportunity to acquire ownership or equity interests, provided that any such proposed sale or conveyance shall first have been referred to the planning board for its report on whether or not such sale or conveyance, and associated proposed development is consistent with local policies concerned with housing and land use and is a suitable development with regard to the area surrounding the parcel to be conveyed or sold, and either such report has been received or forty-five days have elapsed after such reference; and provided further that no lot shall be sold or conveyed under this section if its area exceeds 30,000 sq ft ; and providedfurther that not more than five such dwellings shall be loca- ted within any circle 10 acres in area Article 68 To see if the Town will appropriate a sum of money for defraying the ex- pense to the LHA of preparing plans, studies, surveys and estimates in connection with a program to provide housing for families of low income by means which avoid undue concentration of assisted housing in a manner consistent with development ex- isting in districts designated RO, RS and RT under the Zoning By-law; determine whether the money shall be provided by the tax levy, or by transfer from available IIIfunds, or by any combination of these methods; or act in any other manner in rela- tion thereto Article 69 To see if the Town will appropriate a sum of money in aid of the LHA for defraying development, acquisition and operating costs of one or more low-rent hous- ing projects within the Town, and to determine whether such appropriation shall be raised by borrowing or otherwise; or act in any other manner in relation thereto Letter from County Engineer (addressed to Temple E Scanlon, LHA Exec Dir ) In reference to our telephone conversation, I am submitting a colored print of the area in question as to ownership along Wood Street in the Town of Lexington According to common practice and numerous court cases, reference Ch 82, Sec 2, Note 5 of the Mass G L , the ownership of the old public way which was excluded from the 1930 County Layout will automatically, unless otherwise stated, revert to the abutters as shown on the accompanying print I have reviewed the plans and the 1930 County Order of Taking and there is no indication that the area in question was not to be discontinued If we can be of any further assistance please feel free to contact this office Letter from Kenneth G Briggs, Planning Director to Board of Appeals: The Planning Board has reviewed the plans of the LHA to place 3-single-family III dwellings on lots numbered 314-315-316, 317-318-319 and 320-321-322 Wood Street The Housing Authority is seeking two variances, one for reduction in area from 30,000 s f to 9,000 s f ; the other variance is to allow for placement of the buildings within 1 foot of the existing front property line In the opinion of the Planning Board, the granting of these variances would not November 21, 1974 hearing (continued) -5 be in conflict with the general character of the neighborhood, and would be in the spirit of the 1972 Town Meeting vote to allow construction of low and moderate income housing on scattered sites Therefore, the Planning Board supports the Housing Authority in seeking these variances and recommends that the Board of Appeals grant them For other details, plans, etc presented to the Board of Appeals for this hearing see file folder "Lexington Housing Authority" - Wood Street The hearing was declared closed Following the hearing on this same date, November 21, 1974, the Board made its decision in so-called executive session, which is open to the public for listening only, as the Board deliberates and discusses the petition, giving further consider- ation to the subject of the petition, the evidence presented by the petitioner and others, and the reports and letters received by the Board The motion to grant the petition was made by Logan Clarke, Jr It was seconded by Haskell Reed and carried unanimously The petition was granted The wording of the Permit for Variance was dictated by the chairman (see Permit) The only condition reads as follows: Pursuant to the said findings, the Board hereby unanimously decides to grant the petition as worded, subject to the condition that only one house shall be installed in the immediate future on the lot now designated as Lot 3, formerly known as Lots 314-315-316 The meeting adjourned at 8 40 p m Respectfully submitted, Cwifitt.4, Cat, Evelyn F Cole, Clerk BOARD OF APPEALS Note This decision was filed with the Town Clerk on November 22, 1974 ec I