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Joint Selectmen and Planning Board
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JOINT SELECTMEN AND PLANNING BOARD MEETING
Monday, April 23, 2018
A Joint Meeting of the Lexington Board of Selectmen and the Lexington Planning Board was
called to order at 6:31 p.m. on Monday, April 23, 2018 in the Selectmen’s Meeting Room in
Town Office Building, 1625 Massachusetts Avenue. Present for the Board of Selectmen were
Ms. Barry, Chair; Mr. Pato; Ms. Ciccolo; Mr. Lucente; Ms. Hai; Mr. Valente, Town Manager;
and Ms. Siebert, Recording Secretary.
Present for the Planning Board were Mr. Canale, Chair; Mr. Hornig; Mr. Creech; Ms. Corcoran-
Ronchetti; Ms. Johnson; Mr. Henry, Planning Director; and Mr. Kucharsky, Assistant Planning
Director.
Mr. Canale called the Planning Board back to order from an Open Session recess.
2018 Town Meeting Action Regarding Article 42—Balanced Housing Bylaw
Mr. Canale said the Planning Board is amenable to the decision made by Annual Town Meeting
on April 11, 2018 to refer Article 42 back to the Selectmen. The Planning Board is likewise
amenable to re-opening the matter so that the article is ultimately referred back to Planning
Board, or alternatively, that is referred to the two boards collaboratively. He asked the Selectmen
to describe how they view the matter moving forward.
Ms. Barry said that the Board of Selectmen has so far had only very preliminary discussions
about the direction to take. The Board had considered the formation of an ad hoc committee
operating under Open Meeting Laws; Ms. Barry believes the group would preferably include
members of the Planning Board; Board of Selectmen; the article proponent; Matt Daggett; a
representative or two from the housing community; one or two developers; a lawyer; and one or
two community members. Entwined in the work are also matters of policy, to be determined by
the Selectmen. Mr. Valente has also indicated there might be funds available to hire outside
consultants who would facilitate committee discussions and do the technical work of writing the
bylaw and motion. Ms. Barry acknowledged that a November deadline is extremely ambitious;
she does not want to give Town Meeting false hope that this timeframe is certain.
Mr. Lucente agreed with Ms. Barry’s assessment and added that the issues are complex. He
approves of establishing an ad hoc committee. Mr. Pato remains hopeful that the work could be
completed by fall and agreed that the Planning Board and Selectmen should work together. He
believes the effort should be a public process. Ms. Hai agreed that fall is the desired timeframe
for bringing the matter back before Town Meeting but it may not be possible, given everything
else. Ms. Ciccolo noted that the community has made clear that it wants action on this matter;
she said the boards should guard against allowing time slipping away and believes the two
should work together. She asked that the current Comprehensive Plan ad hoc committee be kept
informed about the Balanced Housing ad hoc committee and its direction. Ms. Ciccolo
applauded the work done by article proponent Matt Daggett.
Mr. Hornig said he is amenable to all the previously expressed opinions about how to move
forward and is agnostic about whether an ad hoc committee or working group is formed. His
main concern about opening the matter for reconsideration is the amount of time such a
discussion will absorb at Town Meeting.
Joint Selectmen and Planning Board
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Mr. Creech said he had no philosophical problem about which board the referral is made to. He
expressed concern about how members of an ad hoc committee would be brought up to speed but
agreed that hiring a facilitator makes sense.
Ms. Corcoran-Ronchetti said she believes that the Planning Board and the Selectmen working
collaboratively can devise a mutually acceptable article that will be supported by residents.
Ms. Johnson said, per Commonwealth law, the matter is the responsibility of the Planning Board.
However, the ineffective bylaw should be fixed and she is willing to work with the Selectmen to
accomplish that. The Planning Board’s zoning revision workload for fall Special Town Meeting
already includes more than six other amendments, so the months ahead will be challenging.
The Boards agreed not to ask for reconsideration of Article 42. Mr. Valente agreed that there is
not enough capacity with existing inhouse staff to support the effort. He recommended that the
two boards move to re-open Article 4—Appropriate AY2019 Operating Budget— and request a
sum of $40,000 to hire outside consulting services. Mr. Valente said that the Town Moderator
would most likely schedule the re-opening at the end of Town Meeting to re-balance the budget.
Mr. Valente has a motion prepared to increase the Selectmen’s budget by $40,000 if Town
Meeting approves the re-opening, with the source of the funds being Free Cash. Ms. Barry said
the two boards should plan to update Town Meeting before a re-opening is requested.
As far as establishing an ad hoc committee to work on the issue, Town Counsel Mina Makarious,
Anderson Krieger, said either two members from each board or both boards working together in
Open Session would be permissible. Ms. Barry said she prefers having one member from each
board start the process; Ms. Hai will represent the Selectmen; the Planning Board will determine
its counterpart.
Adjourn
Upon motion duly made and seconded, the Board of Selection voted 4-0 to adjourn at 6:58 p.m.
A true record; Attest:
Kim Siebert
Recording Secretary