HomeMy WebLinkAbout1936-12-15PLANNING BOARD MEETING
December 15, 1936
' Present:- Messrs. Borden, Ellis, Ferguson and Kimball.
Further consideration of the suggested street on the
Walter Blaok property leads the BoaPd. to f6el that it
-necessary to lay down a procedure to follow in this and future
cases involving Board of Survey plans. It was decided to re-
turn this particular print and to refuse consideration of
others unless accompanied by full information regarding the
following:- '
,1. What is the surer provision for this area?
2. How is the suifaoe drainage to be cared for?
3. What are the provisions for water in this area?
4. What are the profiles?'
5. What is the topography of the area and is the street
width sufficient for snow removal, etc*?
6. What is the general type of subsoil? Such as clay?
Gravel?, Ledge?, etc.
It is the Board's opinion that a basic plan of the Town
should be prepared to provide a working base for all depart-
ments and its preparation is properly a function of this
Board. Preliminary discussion leads to the following tenta-
tive conclusions:
1. That such a map should be on a 200 scale and made
up in sections approximately 24 x 36 inches.
2, That it should show contours (5 foot levels), all
waterways and highway lines.
3. That overlays covering sewer, water and public
utilities; property lines and houses; uses; parks
and public buildings; etc. be made up as requirdd.
4. That the original be made on tracing cloth to permit
reproductions and that the base copy be mounted.
5. That the 100 scale topo map be used as the standard
and reduced by pantograph.
6. That the labor should be'from outside the present
Engineering Department and shall be under the
direction of the Planning Board.
7. That it will probably require around four months
time, using 11 $30.00 per week man and that the
Board will include $1000.00 in its budget to
care for labor,materials and supervision.
The following budget was prepared and will be submitted
with explanatory notes:
Requests Actual Estimate
1936 1936 1937
Clerical $57.00 $25.00
' Postage & Supplies 36.00 10,00
Publicity 72.00 90.00
Sundries 7.00 10.00
Engineering & Maps 50.00 25.00 1100.00
Mass, Federation 15.00 15000
$212.00 $1250.00
Board of
Survey
Work
Base Map
Budget
The Clerical account for 1936 is about $30,00 higher
than normal due to the completion of past records into form
for permanent filing.
The Supplies Account for 1936 is about $30,00 above
normal due to the purchase of binders to put the records of
meetings'in permanent form,
The Publicity Account covers expenses in connection with
hearings and reports. $180,.00 was returned to the 8, & D,
Account through fees from 9 hearings.
"Dues" cover the contribution to the Massachusetts Federa-
tion of Planning Boards, '
One thousand dollars is requested to provide funds cover-
ing labor and materials for a base map of the Town, _
The meeting adjourned at 9:45 P. M, subject to call,
Note:- Later discussion with Mr. Raymond caused the Board to
reconsider and withdraw the request for the thousand
dollars for the map work.
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Respectfully submitted,
Clerk
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ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PLANNING BOARD
' The Planning Board welcomes this opportunity of present-
ing itself to the Town in a guise other than as recently publi-
cised, "The Zoning Board". As a consulting board to the Town,
it is inevitable that its appearances before the Town Meetings
are in general concerned with zoning matters, and its other
activities, which this report will recount, are not perhaps as
well known.
During the past year, the Board has held 27 regular meet-
ings, it has held 3 joint meetings with other Town boards and
made around 12 field trips in connection with special studies.
Four public hearings have been conducted at which twelve amend-
ments were considered. Of those requesting changes in area from
a residential zone to a business zone; one appeared three times
and was three times rejected by the Town, one appeared for the
eighth time and was adopted, one was withdrawn before the Town
Meeting, two others were rejected and two adopted. A proposed
change in the by-law to restrict the removal of loam, sand and
gravel was rejected and a proposed new zone to permit only the
uses incidental to an automobile filling station was adopted.
Full reports on these amendments appear in the detail reports
of Town Meetings contained elsewhere in this Town Report.
Aside from the considerations of general recurring sub-
jects such as the study of new developments of land with their
associated problems of proposed street layouts as affecting the
future growth of the neighboring properties, the Board has given
careful thought to the developments and layouts adjacent to the
Cambridge -Concord Highway and made its report to the Town last
summer, a copy of which is made a part of this report. Since
the Town has seen it advisable to change two pieces of property
on this highway into business zones, it is the expressed hope
of this board that no further zone changes will be made, at
least not until there is a well founded need for business to
meet the requirements of residents in this part of the Town.
After careful study, supplemented by the advice of
planning experts and consultants, the Board presented a new
form of zone devised to meet requirements inherent on the types
of highways such as the Cambridge -Concord Highway, the proposed
Circumferential Highway (sometimes called the new Route 128) and
the Boston -Lowell Turnpike. This zone, known as a Throughway
Zone, permitting the uses coincidental to the maintenance of a
normal automobile filling station only, was adopted by the Town
and it is the intention of the Board to initiate and recommend
changing the business zones adjacent to the Cambridge -Concord
Turnpike into this type of zone.
In studying the specific problems of the Town, the at-
tention of the Board has again been directed toward the advisa-
bility of reviewing lot frontages and area regulations. While
the trend of the times is toward smaller houses and lots as
against the former estates, the location of Lexington on the
outskirts of a 1+etropolitan Area with its uneven contours and
open undeveloped areas, operates against the soundness of a '
universal minimum area throughout the Town. A lot of seventy-
five hundred feet is undoubtedly sufficient in many locations
although it other localities ten thousand or even fifteen
thousand are not only reasonable but should be laid down to
protect property values. The result from adopting regulations
providing for more than one size area, by several nearby Towns,
has proven so satisfactory that the Board is of the opinion that
similar provisions should be considered for Lexington.
That there is an established cycle of population movement
during boom and depression periods, especially in Metropolitan
area, is well known. In boom times, with money easy, there is
a natural expansion from the thickly settled areas to the urban,
neighborhoods;,houses are built or acquired to provide space
and out of doors facilities are in demand. In times of a de-
pression, the movement turns back to more families living under
one roof, transportation between residence and occupation be-
comes an element and the trend _ Is toward the thickly settled
sections. These conditions have just been witnessed around
Boston and reports from acredited forecasters lead to the belief
that we are now entering an era of unusual building expansion.
That thi's is beginning to be felt in Lexington is indicated by
the steady increase in building permits issued during the last
few months. It is the earnest hope of your Planning Board that
this will continue in Lexington, but it is also their hope that '
it will be met with the means for an orderly and planned develop-
ment to the Town's best interests, and not in a sporadic and
undirected movement which will result in demands for uneconomical
and expensive public utilities. Statewide planners and wise
legislators have foreseen some of the difficulties and have pro-
vided through recent acts of legislation the means whereby Towns
may avail themselves of sound protection against undesirable
developments. It is a sincere hope of the Board that Lexington
will enact the necessary changes whether this direction be
vested with the Planning or the existing Board of Survey.
Respectfully submitted,
Chairman
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