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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1957-07-221 1 1 PLANNING BOARD MEETING July 22, 1957 A regular meeting of the Planning Board was held in.the Town Engineer's Room, Town Office Building, on Monday, July 22, 1957 at 7:30 p.m. Present were Chair- man Grindle, Members Burnell, Jaquith and Soule; Plan- ning Director Snow and the secretary. Mr. Stevens, Town Counsel, was present from 8:25 to 8:55 p•m• The minutes of the meetings of May 7, 1956 and MINUTES July 1 and 8, 1957 were approved. The following bills presented for payment were BILLS approved: Bruce E. Howlett, professional services, week ending July 19 1957-4100.00; Spaulding -Moss Co., drafting supplies --1.30. At 7:35 p.m. Dr. Clarence Shannon met with the SHANNON Board to discuss the possibility of the town acquiring for recreational purposes a portion of his land located at North and Adams Streets. Dr. Shannon stated that his original asking price was $7000 but if the town bought direct he would ask $6500 and would take $500 for an option. Dr. Shannon left the meeting at 7:50 after which the Board discussed the matter further. It was mentioned that Mr. Adams had talked with Mr. Rupert . Stevens who quoted a price of $6000. It was concluded that the figure mentioned was not unreasonable and that the Board would recommend to the Selectmen that the land be acquired. At the request of the Chairman Mr. Snow met with the Board of Selectmen to discuss the Planning Board's recommendation that the Town acquire the Shannon property. Mr. Snow returned to the Planning Board meeting and re- ported that the Selectmen were unanimously in favor of the acquisition of said property and had asked Mr -Maloney to negotiate for the purchase price of said land; that as soon as the price was agreed upon, Mr. Maloney was to notify Mr. Snow who would ask Mr. Stevens to prepare the necessary option for the purchase of said land. The Planning Board next considered the petitions BOARD OF to be heard by the Board of Appeals on July 30, 1957• APPEALS It was decided to take no action on any of these petitions. Taken under consideration were the following Form FORMS A A applications for determination of Planning Board jurisdiction: 7-22-57 #57-65, submitted July 18, 1957 by Johnson, Clapp, Ives & King for Norman Wilks; plan , entitled "Plan of Land in Lexington -Mass.", dated July 102 1957, Miller & Nylander, C.E.ts & Surveyors. #57-66, submitted July 16, 1957 for Emmett G. Purser by Alfred P. Tropeano, Atty.; plan entitled "Plan of Land in Lexington -Mass.", dated July 2, 1957, Miller & Nylander, C.E.'s and Surveyors. #57-67, submitted July 22, 1957 by Colonial Development Corp.; plan entitled "Plan showing easements Lexington -Mass.", William J. Ford,Jr., Surveyor. #57-68, submitted July 22, 1957 by Colonial Development Corp.; plan entitled "Drain and Sewer Profile Lexington -Mass.", dated July 11, 1957, William J. Ford, Jr., Surveyor. #57-69 „ submitted July 19, 1957 by Antonio Farfaros• plan entitled "Subdivision Plan of Land in Lexington, Mass.", dated June 3, 1957, A.J.Canon-Surveyor & C.E. ' #57-70, submitted July 22, 1957 by Joseph A. Gleason and Frank Licciardi; plan of land en- titled "Plan of Land in Lexington -Mass.", dated July $, 1957, Miller & Nylander, C.E.'s and Surveyors. It was moved, seconded and unanimously VOTED: that the plans accompanyingg ap�? lica- tions #57-65, #57-66, #57-b7, #57-6$, #57-69 and #57-70 be signed bearing the endorsement "Lexington Planning Board approval -not required under sub- division control law." BATTLE GREEN The Board next took under consider4tion the VILLABB application for approval of the definitive plan SEC. 2 of Battle Green Village, Sec. 2. It was noted that a bond and assumptions of obligations have not been submitted by Leeland Construction Co., Inc., pending settlement of sewer connection charges against the Ross property. Since the 45 -day period in which the Board should act had expired and in view of the above-mentioned facts, it was moved ' by Mr. Grindle, seconded by Mr. Soule and unanimously 1 C� 1 7-22-57 -2- VOTED: that the definitive subdivision plan entitled "Battle Green Village Section Two Lexington Massachusetts", dated May 21, 1957, submitted to the Board on June 7, 1957, accompanied by an application for approval of definitive plan, Form C, dated May 29, 1957) be and hereby is disapproved for the reason that the applicant has not submitted a bond in accordance with the Lexington subdivision rules and regulati_ ons. At 8:45 Mr. Grindle left to attend a confer- ence with the Selectmen and at the same time Mr. Stevens came to the meeting to discuss with the Board an application for approval of a definitive plan entitled "Hawthorne Acres Section One" sub- mitted by Esco Builders Corp. Even though the applicant had not submitted a bond, it was decided that no definite action could he taken upon said application until the 45-dav period in which the Board should act expired July 25, 1957• Mr. Stevens stated that Mr. Tropeano, attorney for Esco Builders Corp., insisted on a two-year bond. It was understood that in accepting a bond for two years there would be a chance that, in the event of non -completion of the required work in the sub- division, the bond would be of an insufficient amount to cover said work because of a possible increase in the cost of construction. However, it was thought that the penal sum of said bond might be adequate to finish uncompleted work in the subdivision in that Esco Builders Corp. were under agreement to construct by June 1958 a road leading into the Junior High School site and that in fulfilling this agreement said corporation would have spent about $30,000 in complet- ing this amount of work. The Board decided to approve a two-year period for the completion of the work in view of the fact that the approval of the subdivision was related to the acquisition of land for a new Junior High School and it was desired not to have any further delav in passing title for said land which might be incurred should the Board insist upon a one- year requirement for completion of the improvements within said subdivision. It was also decided to hold a special meeting on Wednesday night, July 24, 1957, in order that the subdivider might arrange for the necessary bond and that Mr. Stevens would so notify Mr. Tropeano. HAWTHORNE ACRES 7-22-57 COLONIAL In regard to Colonial Acres Section 2, Mr. Stevens ACRES reported that he had obtained the necessary grants of , SEC. 2 easements within said subdivision and had prepared for the Board's signature a certificate of perform- ance dated July 22, 1957. Evidence of satisfactory performance of the required work to be done in said subdivision having been submitted by the Town Engi- neer and all other matters appearing to be in order, it was moved by Mr. Jaquith, seconded by Mr. Soule and unanimously VOTED: that the Board sign a certificate of per- formance for all required work referred to in the conditional approval contract exe- cuted by the Colonial Development Corp. dated Oct. ll, 1954 and release all lots shown on the subdivision plan entitled "Colonial Acres Lexington, Mass." dated Feb. 25, 1954.from the restrictions as to sale and building specified in said condi- tional approval contract. Mr. Stevens was given the endorsed certificate of performance to record in the Registry of Deeds together with instruments granting easements mentioned above. DOW CHEMICAL . Mr Stevens left the meeting at 8:55 p.m. at. ' CO. which time Mr. Gri ndle returned. He reported that Dr. McLafferty of the Dow Chemical Company had in- formed the Selectmen that the Company he repre- sented wished to locate a small research laboratory in this area, preferably not.on flouts 128 or negr a large industrial plant. The Company had in mind acquiring a 20-30 acre tract of land which could be developed later if it was found feasible to do so. Dow wished to erect a superior type of plant for long-range chemical research involving no manufac- ture, to cost between one-half to three-quarters of a million dollars, and employing selective personnel. Mr. Grindle stated that he had introduced Mr. Mc - Lafferty to Mr. Snow who would confer with representa- tives of the company in regard to possible sites for a laboratory. FILENE'S REGIONAL At 9:05 p.m. Mr. Gummere came to the meeting SHOPPING to discuss further with the Board Filene's proposal CENTER for a regional shopping center to be located in Lex - PROPOSAL ington. He stated that many months ago he had be - gun to discuss the proposal with various town repre- sentatives, that nothing would have become of said proposal in Lexingtin if he had not believed the town ' officials thought well of the project, and that those he represented had been hopeful that there would be more tangible evidence of approval than there had been indicated to date. He said, however, that they 1 7-22-57 were encouraged by the interest shown and the vote taken at the public hearing since the zoning provi- ' sions were being heard for the first time and since opponents, and not always proponents, generally attend such hearings. He also said that they felt they were alone in presenting their point of view, would not want to do so at a town meeting, but that if a citi- zen's group would assist in doing this, they would consider the matter differently. Mr. Gummere further stated that they felt they had gone far enough and were not justified in spending more money on the pro- posal unless more people showed interest in and were in favor of the project. He said that since the public hearing various letters and telephone calls had indicated that there was a substantial group who did not wish to see the shopping center proposal die. When asked by the Chairman of a Lexington Citizen's Committee in favor of the proposal if Filene's repre- sentatives would have themselves available to talk with them, the Committee was assured that they would be. Mr. Gummere said his group would like to find out what was defective in the presentation at the public hearing, to see a town recommendation elimi- ' nating these defects, to have said recommendation have Planning Board support, and finally to have the matter voted upon in a town referendum. He acknowl- edged that there were problems to be solved in regard to traffic, the size of buildings, etc. He said, however, that his group did not want to be a party either actively or passively for something the town does not believe in and that unless the proposal made sense to the Planning Board and the Planning Director, his group had nothing to talk about. When asked if his group would be willing to proceed with the project if the Hayden property were not included at all in the zoning for regional shop- ping use, Mr. Gummere asked what the town proposed to do with said property. Mr. Jaquith said he thought the town should control it, adding that if it were not zoned for regional shopping use, there would be no question about someone else using it for such use. Mr. Gummere replied that the only person interested in the property was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Boston and that he had no option on the property. Later when asked if his group would be willing to accept a limited area for regional shopping, Mr. Gummere said it would, but that his group would request further rezoning later on, the entire area being developed in sections, and the Hayden property being used for residential purposes since it could not be carried for nothing. 7-22.57 In regard to including office buildings as a use in a regional shopping center, Mr. Gummere stated that , he thought the matter should be settled right away. Commenting further he said the size of an office build- ing would not be indicated by the number of offices included in one building for the reason that some of these offices would large and others small. The subject of traffic was discussed in some detail, Mr. Gummere acknowledging that it was a tre- mendous problem in this case.b He said that the means of solving this problem was the matter of combined judgment and suggested that the Planning Board use what resources, figures and sketches his group had and that siad group take the Board's advice on how to solve the problem. He stated also that his group hoped more engineering information could be obtained in regard to the Swenson and Hayden properties and that that end of town could be developed so that there could be access to the shopping center from Middle Street and Marrett Road. He said that facts should be presented so that his group will know exactly what will happen if it has to spend a million dollars to relocate Lexington streets. He added that his group had partical studies in regard to these matters but did not think these were sufficient to determine what impact the shopping center would be ' on the traffic problem. Mr. Snow was asked if the combined information of the Filene's group and the Planning Board was suf- ficient to determine what this impact would be. He said he believed there was enough information assembled, Mr. Gummere agreeing on this point. Mr. Snow stated, however, the planning staff had not met with Filene's consultants to find out how they obtained their data and to determine if both groups evaluated these data the same way. Mr. Gummere was asked if his group had another definite area in mind, he replying that he wished to avoid having to say it was either the proposed Lexington location or that his group would locate somewhere else. He said that after the public hearing his group sent someone to look at some other sites but that was as far as the matter had gone. He concluded by stating that his group had seen nothing else suitable in Lexington and that so far the Swenson -Hayden site was the one pro- ferred. HANCOCK Mr. Gummere left the meeting at 10:20 p.m. at HEIGHTS which time the Board considered the application for , SEC. 2 tentative approval of the Hancock Heights, Sec. 2 pre- liminary plan. Mr. Snow stated that he had discussed said plan with Supt. Gayer, understood that he had not 7-22-57 -4- approved the plan and proposed to recommend a number of changes in regard to drainage and construction details. Mr. Snow also stated that the Hofheimers were still dis- cussing with the subdivider the sale of a portion of siad Hofheimer lot for the purpose of constructing an extension of Linmoor Terrace as shown on the plan. After due consideration it was moved by Mr. Soule, seconded by Mr. Jaquith and VOTED: that the preliminary subdivision plan en- titled "Hancock Heights Section 2 Lexing- ton, Mass.", dated June 20, 1957, which was submitted to the Board on June 24, 1957 be and hereby is tentatively approved. Mr. Burnell abstained from voting. Considered next was the application for tenta- JONES SUB- tive approval of the proposed subdivision of the DIVISION Alfred G. Jones land located opposite Blossom Street on Concord Avenue. After due consideration it was CONCORD moved by Mr. Jaquith, seconded by Mr. Burnell and AVENUE unanimously ' VOTED: that the preliminary subdivision plan entitled "Preliminary Plan of Subdivision in Lexington, Mass. belonging to Alfred G. Jones," dated June 1957, submitted July 19 1957, be and hereby is disapproved for the reasons that the proposed dead-end street and the intersection of said street and Concord Avenue do not meet the re- quirements of the Lexington Subdivision Rules and Regulations. The meeting adjourned at 11:00 p.m. ze'�' `" V Levi G. Burnell, Jr. Clerk