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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1925-12-05 PLANNING BOARD MEETING LEXINGTON, MASS. Town Hall, December 5,1925. Present Emery, Chairman, Messrs . Tilton, Worthen, Duffy, Glynn, Milne, and Mr. French, Town Engineer. The meeting was called by Mr. Emery for discussion of three matters 1 . Sentiment of the Board with relation to the service street planned to extend from Sherman to Meriam Street between Mass . Ave. and B & M. R.R. in its bearing on possible location of Cary Memorial Building on the Blake-Plumer property. After discussion it was unanimously voted "That while it was the unanimous opinion of the Planning Board that the Cary Memorial Building should not be placed on the so-called Blake-Plumer site because said site is destined to be in the midst of the future congested business zone of the town, if the Trustees under the will, having the matter in charge determine that such building if tendered and accepted ►dust be located on such site, the proposed service street to be built between Mass. Ave. and the B & M RR may be terminated at each side of the Memorial Building lot or deviated across said lot in such a manner as not to obstruct the placing of such Memorial Building thereon." 2. Veterans' Hospital. Mention was made of the possibility of the sale of the so-called Simonds property off Burlington and Grove Streets to the United States for site for a veterans' hospital, and of the endorsement given by the selectmen as individuals, the Legion Post, and the Board of Trade, to efforts to secure this project. Attention was called to the burdens of cost due to withdrawal of land from taxation and the reconstruction of streets, laying of water mains, etc. that the erection of such a plant would put upon the town. Other phases of the matter such as the danger due to class of patients and the availability of a site in Bedford where the town had voted for the project, were mentioned. It was decided not to take action, as a Board, to oppose the project, although in general the members seemed to hold the project in disfavor insofar as it appeared to affect the ultimate good of the Town. - 2 - II 3. Curtailment of train service by B. & M. R. R. Mr. Emery reported that the B & M R R. was determined to reduce the train service and was threatening to limit such service to two trains daily each way. He, with other citizens of influence, was endeavoring to secure agreement on the part of the railroad to provide three trains daily each way, at better times. He asked if the Board would vote to favor improving the Bus service by arranging for through service to Harvard Square . After discussion it was decided that it was not properly within the scope of the Board' s duties to move in such a matter. , 4 Report of the Planning Board for the Year 1,25.. The Planning board, except during the Summer months, has met II pretty nearly every week, the Town T:ngineer as a rule sitting in at its meetings. A wide diversity of problems and matters are being constant- ly presented for consideration by the Board and frequently the more press- ing smaller problems interfere seriously with the consideration of the larger and more important ones. For a considerable period it seemed as if scarcely a week passed without some petitioner espeegiz g before the Bolin¢ stating that he had bought this or that place and desired to out it up into house lots and lay out streets to serve the soma, so that be might begin building operations at ones. In such instances the practice of the Board has been to call for surveys of the property and then sit down with tie new owner and work out a layout that would give to him, so far as possible, the number of lots he is entitled to have, but so ar- Iranged and with streets or street extensions so laid down, as to tie la with present or prospeotive streets in adjoining properties. Unless this be done in every instance, the town would find itself with a large num- ber of separated developments utterly incapable of being tied together as a part of a unified development of the larger area of which they map form parts. While in many instances the Board has found the owners somewhat reluctant at first to accept the delay necessary to this more complete working out of the plans, it is believed that in every instance the plena eventually recommended by the Board and accepted by the owner have furnished the latter a more satisfactory development from every point of view, than what had been originally in mind when they came be- fore the Board. Questions are constantly arising in connection with the Zoning Law I calling for interpretations of the latter and for cooperation between the representatives of the town and. property owners in reducing to concrete form the general provisions of the law itself. A rs. • Among the larger problems requiring consideration and. upon wdish the Board has devoted oonsiderable time is that of through ared through streets, referred to in the last report. Work upon this problem can only progress as the Town ' gineer is able to furnish necessary plans. Substantial progress has been made in gathering the neoeuary data, and it is hoped that by another year some definite reooOendations may be. possible. ^he problem itself is of great importance to the town be- cause such through streets furnish the ground work to which all local developments mu:'t be fitted and, to the extent that the through streets are lain down, to that extent will we be able to control local develop- -,. dents. A good deal of time has been devoted to the matter of development of the park property extending from Waltham Street to the State Road and to the related development of the property between Waltham Street and 1&assaohusetts Avenue. Relative to the park section of this property, we found the town blocked by private interests that seemed to prevent nec- essary development to make available all the town lands and, after con- siderable delay, the Board is able to report a change in ownership of certain parcels that bids fair to make it much easier to handle the problem than hal heretofore been possible. However, actual development of the park lands as well as of the lands in the Vine Brook area below Waltham Street can only progress as the development of the drainage prob- lem progresses, and here, again, much study has been given to the problem presented by the passage of Vine Brook under Massachusetts Austen and the railroad, at which points the brook must inevitably be lowered, to make 0 the lands available and profitable, and this in turn will involve a very Ilarge sum of money. Believing it to be inexpedient to undertake anything of the sort without adequate provision for obtaining such return as would be justified, the 214nnirg Board, in consultation with the Selectman and • Town Engineer, has caused to be presented to the Legislature a bill om- solidating and broadening the previsions for drainage in Lexington and permitting the assessment of betterments in a way that will, in the lapin- ion of the Board, make it entirely possible in the near future to bring forward a comprehensive plan for the drainage and improvement of the en- tire areas in question and, at the same time, avail of such improvements to ©over, in large part at least, the drainage costs. The cooperation of the State engineering force has been availed of in this connection. It has seemed to the Planning Board that the present method of assessing costs for sewer extension is quite unfair to the town, iuthat the individual property owners served by dower extensions were called up- on to pay altogether too small a fraction of the cost of construction, the town as a whole paying the larger part. then it is realised that the town to date has paid more than eighty thousand dollars for sewer construction, it is apparent how small an amount the property owners who have been serv- ed have paid. Believing a continuance of the present inequitable system multi be ruinous, the Planning Board, in oonjunotion with the Selectmen and Town Council, has prepared a bill which has been filed in the Legis- lature, seeking an amendment to the seweer law to permit assessments upon the property owners immediately benefited to be eubsteutially increased -- approximately to one-half the cost of construction. This bill, together with that upon the drainage question above referred to, if passed by the Legislature, will be presented to the town for acceptance and, if accept- ed, will prove exceedingly useful. Another problem that has occupied much time of the Board has been that relating to water main extensions. The present method of assessing oasts for extension of water mains requires the benefited petitioners to pay tens per cent upon the cost of extensions for a period not to exceed ten years. Since the petitioning property owners are thus called upon 71 • to carry for a period of years the entire burden of eenits+totton rust, I it has been the practise of the town to install mains of sufficient Cap- acity only, to serve these petitioning miners. The result has been that today Lexington is said to have a larger number of miles of six-inch water mains than may town in the metropolitan district, Six-inch mains are too small to serve any considerable areas of the town, anti it is a question of but a short time when our insurance rates will be raised be- cause of inadequate water mains. The Planning Board haa, atter much stady, worked out an amendment to the By-Laws, which it proposes to brkk g forward, authorizing the assessment upon the petitioning owners so math only of the capacity of the extensions as their local requirements call for, permitting the town to install mains as much larger them called for by local requirements as may be deemed necessary to take care of connect- " ed or further areas, In this manner we shall get away from the further unlimited extension of six-inch water mains and secure a larger extension of eight-inch and larger mains. Completion of the program for establishment of building linos has been necessarily held book by pressure of more important work, but it has not been abandoned, in fast, is actively under way, but progressing more slowly than anticipated. The matter of an advisory board of architects, referred to in the last annual report, has not sorted out satisfactorily, Pressure of other matters has prevented the Board from ,riving to this the attention it waald have been glad to :Ave to it., but it has been impossible to revise the plan or to push it to active usefulness. Among the local problems that have oome before the Board for consideration have been the following:- ' Layout of extension of Slocum goad and other streets off Highland Avenue Viand of Walter Blaatikoop4red and submitted to Board of Sur- vey; consideration of development of streets and land of WaePhse sad r • others off Reed Street off Lexington, still peaking; lsyoni for streets 11 in land of Pichette end. Ahern off Massachusetts avenue and Maple Street. Fast Lexington, aoceptable plan recommended to Board of Survey; considera- tion of plan for street extension in commotion with the land between Arcadia Avenue and Lowell Street. reo -mads to--Board of Survey; la;,Tout for land and house lots on what was Fitch property, between Bloom- field Street and Slocum Road, reoently purchased by K. C. Rowland, accept- able plan recommended to Board of Survey. dkl ! y , nLGtr. The Planning Board, after full consideration, voted to oppose the location of veterans' insane hospital in Lexington. Yielding to no one in respect for our World War veterans and what they did in the serwrioe of our Country, if Lexington had been the only practicable site for sueh a hospital, no objection would have been made; a careful investigation, I however, showed that engineering problems were serious, that the costs that would have been imposed upon the town, both immediately and cover- ing succeeding years, were such that the town could ill afford to invite them When equally available sited were to be had in adjoining towns, where the problems were not so great end would not prove so burdensome. The ultimate decision, as now announced, to place the hospital in Bedford, is understood to have been based mainly upon engineering and construction- al grounds and not upon any sentimental grounds or preference. The claim so earnestly advanced in behalf of the project, that the advent of the hospital would have been a great thing for the town and would have bre ght much business to its tradesmen, is upon no higher basis than the objections which have been criticised so severely, that the advent of the hospital Iwould injure property values and bring a tax burden upon the town. It is as selfish to desire the hospital for personal gain and profit as to ob- ject to it on the ground that it would bring a burden of expense. fany other problems have come before the Beard and have been the sub- r WI 1 -� 6- lir jeotsot thhrough d1sS h5LSn tad have iatg17rd considerable wefts which it ' seems unneoeonary here to tOnAh aspen, The members df tho hoard have .eoper.ted heartily la the worn end have sacrii ioell much of time rind pereoftgl o mien*ince to the problems before them. F Respeetuliy sube>ttt+►A, I Feb. , 1926.