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Home My WebLink About1957-10-22 PLANNING BOARD MEETING October 22, 1957 A regular meeting of the Lexington Planning Board was held in the Town Engineer' s Room, Town Office Build- ing, on Tuesday, October 22, 1957 at 7 45 p.m. Present were Chairman Grindle , Members Burnell, Jaquith and Soule and Planning Director Snow. Town Counsel Stevens was present from 8 00 to 8- 50 p.m. The Board approved the minutes of September 9 and MINUTES 24, October 3, 8, and 15 , 1957. The Board also approved the following bills pre- BILLS sented for payment - Samuel Ward, U.S. Census publica- tion-41.75 , Graphic Reproductions, Inc . , map enlarge- ments-46.15 . The appeal period after approval having expired, L.C.#5982 the Board endorsed the Fitzgerald definitive subdivision FITZGERALD plan entitled "A Subdivision of Land Court Case No. 5982 in Lexington, Mass. " Also signed by the Board were copies of the "Statement of Conditions of Planning Board Approval " These copies and Sheet 1 of 2 of the original tracing ox said plan were given to Mr. Stevens, who came to the meeting at this time, for filing in the Land Registration Office and with the Land Court Engineer. The Board then discussed with Mr. Stevens the terms WILLARD of an option agreement to purchase from Miss Willard LAND FOR and Miss Robinson the so-called Willard property on the RECREATION westerly side of ,ortb Street for recreation purposes. Particularly discussed were the description of the property to be acquired and the restrictions which the Misses Willard and Robinson wished to have placed on the use of the land . It was understood that these restric- tions are to run until the occurrence of either the death of the survivor of Miss Willard and Miss Robinson, or until they, jointly or severally, cease to be the owners of record of the premises now numbered 66 North Street, whichever event occurs first. It was further understood that these restrictions were to be that no buildings are to be erected, and no change of use is to be made on that part of the land which lies between the westerly line of North Street and a line running approximately 650 it . westerly of land parallel to said westerly line of North Street , except as follows 1 The pond within the restricted area may be used for skating purposes 2. In the event the town d ecides to construct a roadway through the restricted area from North Street, such roadway may be constructed within any part of the restricted area which lies northerly of a line commencing at a point on the westerly line of North St. 316 feet southerly from the intersection of the northerly boundary line of the parcel and the westerly line of North Street, and running in a westerly direction through the restricted area parallel to the northerly boundary line of the parcel. 3. Nothing contained in the restrictive provisions shall prevent employees and officials of the town from taking such action as may be necessary to properly maintain the restricted area in its present state. Mr. Stevens left the meeting atter it was decided that he would prepare a draft for an option including in the agreement such terms as had been discussed previously with Miss Willard and Miss Robinson, and to confer with their attorney after said draft had been prepared. FORM A The Board next took under consideration the follow- ing Form A application for determination of Planning Board jurisdiction- #57-93, submitted October 22, 1957 by Samuel L. Fardy, plan entitled "Plan of Land in Lexington- Mass ", dated June 13 , 1957 , Miller and Nylander, C.E. ' s & Surveyors, Lexington, Mass. It was moved, seconded and unanimously VOTED that the plan accompanying application #57-93 be signed bearing the endorsement "Lexington Plan- ning Board approval under the subdivision control law not required " BOARD OF Read to the Board and discussed by it were the APPEALS notices of 'petitions td `te heard by the Board of Appeals on October 29, 1957 . It was decided to take no action FIRST on said petitions with the exception of that of the NATIONAL First National Stores for the erection of a free-standing STORES sign on Worthen Road . (See addendum for copy of letter sent to Board of Appeals ) HOSPITAL Mr. Burnell gave a report of the activities of the NEEDS Hospital Needs Study Committee, pointing out said com- STUDY mittee' s interest in selecting a possible hospital site in COMMITTEE Lexington and requesting the Board' s recommendation for such a site. Mr. Snow was requested to keep this in mind in preparing a long-rante development plan for the town and to submit to the Board recommendations for said site. Read to the Board and discussed by it was the ROUTE 2 Board' s October 1$, 1Q57 letter to Chief Engineer RE-DESIGN McCarthy of the State Department of Public Works in regard to decisions made at a previous meeting between the Board of Selectmen and the Planning Board. (See addendum) The Board discussed the studies oi the Watertown Street-Route 2 interchange and at the request of the Selectmen agreed to meet with them at the earliest convenient date to discuss further the prob- lems in connection with said interchange. The Board received from Town Counsel Stevens a SUN VALLEY letter enclosing conformed copies os grants of utilities SEC . 10 and easements in the Section 10 of the Sun Valley sub- division All matters appearing to be in order, it was moved by Mr. Soule, seconded by Mr. Jaquith and unani- mously IrOTED to release the performance bond, dated October 17, 1955, ailed by DeVries Construction Co. , Inc , as Principal, and the Maryland Casualty Co. , as Surety, in the sum oi twenty-seven thousand sive hundred and 00/100 collars - ($27, 500.00) to secure the performance by the subdivider of the obligations as to the sub- division entitled "Section Ten of Sun Valley Lexington, Bass . , Owned by DeVries Construc- tion Co , Inc . " There being no further business to consider at the time, the meeting rias adjourned at 10.00 p.m. Levi G. Burnell, Jr. Clerk 1 ADDENDUM October 29, 1957 Board of Appeals , Town Office Building Lexington 73 r,.ass Re- Mack Sign, Inc petition Permission to erect sign for First National Stores, Inc. Gentlemen The Planning Board at its regular meeting on October 22, 1957 discussed the petition referred to above, decided to go on record as being opposed to the granting of said petition, and to write a letter to the Board of Appeals setting forth its reasons for such opposition. In general the Planning Board is opposed to the erection of free-standing signs such as the one proposed in this case. Members of the Board believe that it is too large for the purpose intended and that it would not contribute to the amenities of the commercial district. It was ob- served that the Worthen Road entrance to the First National Stores parking area can readily be seen for several hundred feet when approaching said entrance from either Bedford Street or Massachusetts Avenue. It is the Board 's opinion, therefore, that there is no need for the erection of said sign when one conforming to the Lexington Zoning By-law could be designed and erected where it could be readily seen, attached to and parallel with the southwesterly face of the store . Sincerely yours , LEXINGTON PLANNING BOARD /s/ Thomas S. Grindle , Chairman 1$ October 1957 Mr E.J.McCarthy, Chief Engineer Department of Public Works 100 Nashua Street Boston 14 , , .assachusetts Dear Mr. McCarthy Reference is made to your letter of September 24, 1957 in regard to the meeting at which Mr. Whitcomb and Mr. Hue discussed with '.r. Snow, our Planning Director, matters relative to the re-design of Route 2 and the recently completed major street plan for Lexington. At a joint meeting of the Board of Selectmen and the Planning Board, lir. Snow gave a report of the meeting referred to above. It was decided that ( a) the Watertown St - Route 2 interchange was of primary importance to Lexington and to undertake immediately detailed engineering studies for said interchange with the view of preparing a plan and construction estimate for a town road to connect with this interchange over a location other than Watertown Street , (b) the Spring St. -Route 2 intersection was of next importance to the Town and to prepare detailed studies of th_s intersection, and ( c) the Boards would ask for a conference to review these plans and to discuss a program by which the Town and the Department may take joint action to put the plans into effect. For the purposes set forth above, the Planning Board would like to obtain a copy of the Department' s 100-scale studies of these intersections with the understanding that this material will be kept in the Board office If it is the Department policy not to release said studies, the Board would like to obtain the 100-scale topographical sheets showing the locations of existing Houses and related data around these intersections It is the intent of the Boards to have the studies prepared in the sholtest possible time consistent with sound engineering practice so as not to delay the drafting of the final Route 2 plans Any assistance the Department may be able to give the Boards in facilitating this work will be greatly appreciated. Sincerely yours , LEXINGTON PLANIJNG BOARD /s/ Thomas S. Grindle Chairman