Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1958-05-05 ' PLANNING BOARD MELTING May 5, 1958 A regular meeting of the Lexington Planning Board was held in the Town Engineer ' s Room, Town Office Building, on Monday, May 5, 1958 at 7:45 p.m. Present were Chairman Grindle, Members Abbott, Burnell, Jaquith and Soule, and Planning Director Snow. Town Counsel Stevens was present from 8:00 to 8 30 p.m. The board approved the minutes of its April 7, MINUTES 1a58 meeting. Approved also by the board were the following BILES bills which had been presented for payment : Spaulding-Moss Co. , profile paper, X8.70, and prints of maps, d`l8.75--$27.115; Barry Printing Co. , zoning by-law amendment proofs--112.00; John C . Lichtenberg, revising population map--v61.00; A.S.P.O. , Planning Advisory Service reports--4'15.15; Graphic Reproduc- tions, Inc , white prints-42.70. ' At 8.00 p.m. Mr Stevens met with the Board REGIONAL to discuss Mr. Gummere ' s (Secretary of Filene 's) SHOPPING April 23, 1958 letter to the State Department of CENTER Pl.blic Works and Commissioner DiNatale 's April 30, PROPOSAL 1958 reply addressed to Mr. Stevens relative to re- zoning property at the northeasterly corner of the Route 2-125 intersection fora regional shopping center. Particular attention was given to the last three paragraphs of the Commissioner ' s letter. (See addendum. ) It was pointed out that said State department was not satisfied with Mr. Gummere ' s letter and wanted something more than a letter of assurance In view of the department ' s att; tude, Mr. Stevens stated that he believed that the Town should be put in a nosi.tion so that it could not be criticized by the State for the reasons that Hayden and Swenson land would be increased in value as a result of re-zoning and that the State would have damages increased for taking of said land for Iighway purposes He said he thought that the De- partment miroht ask the Town not to re-zone before said taking was made Mr Stevens stated further that he had discussed these matters with representatives of Filene's but that they were not going to change the tenor or content of Mr. Gummere ' s letter. Considered next was the follow'nr- Form A appli- L -5-58 -2- FORM A cation for determination of Planning Board juris- diction : #58-26, submitted on May 5, 1958 by H.S.B. White for Lexland Construction Corp. ; plan entitled "Subdivision of Land Lexington-Mass . " , dated 4/5/58, Scale : 1" = 40 ' , William J. Ford, Jr. , Surveyor. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was unanimously VOTED That the Lexington Planning Board determines that the plan accompanying Form A application /158-26 does not require approval and that said plan be signed bearing the endorsement "Lex- ington Planning Board approval under the Sub- d vision Control Law not required." CORR At 8: 30 p.m. Mr. Stevens left and Lt . Corr and Mr. Robert Cataldo came to the meeting. STREET OPTION The board discussed again with Messrs . Corr and Cataldo the obtaining of an option to purchase for street purposes a parcel of the land it was sup- posed to subdivide in accordance with a new Corr petition to be heard by the Board of Appeals on May 6, 1958. (See minutes of April 7, 1958. ) Messrs . Corr and Cataldo said they were willing to give the town an option to purchase a portion of Lot 4 at the corner of Weston and Lincoln Streets as shown on a plan entitled "Plan of Proposed Lots in Lexington Mass. ", dated Mar. 17, 1958, and prepared by Miller & Nylander. They also said, however, that they were plan- ning to sell said lot as soon as the,r could after the Board of Appeals hearing if said board granted the petition. Messrs . Corr and Cataldo left the meeting at 8:50 p.m BOARD OF The board then considered the notices of APPEALS petitions to be heard by the Board of Appeals on May 6, l° 8. It was decided to take no action on said petitions . PROPOSED At 9 00 p.m. the Planning Board met with the ROAD Selectmen to discuss information to be presented at a public hearing to be held on May 8, 1958 at the WOOD TO office of the State Department of Public Works in BEDFORD 32 . regard to said department laying out an airport access road to connect Wood and Bedford Streets. Mr. Snow was asked to prepare from the Liscussion a set of notes to be used by the Selectmen planning to 5-5-58 -3- attend the hearing. (See addendum. ) Thereupon, the Planning Board left the Selectmen ' s meeting and returned to its own meeting at 10:15 p.m. Reviewed by the board were prints of two plans which were requested of Mark Moore, Jr. when BURNHAM he met with the Board on April 28, 1958. Both plans FARMS were prepared by Miller & Nylander and showed pro- SEC. 2 posed roads providing access across Kendrick land from the Burnham Farms, Section Two subdivision to East and Lowell streets The plan showing access to East Street had no title but was dated April 21, 1958; the plan showing access to Lowell street was entitled "Study Plan of Proposed Lots Land in Lexington-Mass.", and dated May 1, 1958. The board devoted the remainder of its meet- ing to a discussion of reports to be prepared on articles appearing in the warrant for a special town meeting to be held on May 12, 1958. The board ad- journed its meeting at 11:00 p.m. 1,4 fw chard H. Soule Clerk ADDENDUM April 23, 1958 Department of Public Works 100 Nashua Street Boston, Massachusetts Attention: Miss DeAngelis, Commissioner DeNatale 's Office Dear Miss DeAngelis : If your files are as loaded as ours, it may be convenient to have the enclosed copies of the letters about which the Commissioner and I talked today Also it might be helpful for me to summarize our problem. As my letter of May 14, 1957 to Mr. Sheridan and his re- ply to me of August 26, 1957 indicates, conversations have been going on for some time between us at Filene ' s, who plan to build a shopping center on the northeast corner of the junction of Routes 2 and 128 in Lexington, and the Department of Public Works In summary, these 5-5- 8 -4- letters stated there had been no major changes in the De- partment' s Basic Plan design for the reconstruction of Route 2 in the vicinity of Spring Street, Lexington. How- ever, since receiving Mr. Sheridan ' s letter, Wilbur Smith & Associates, as engineers for us, .altered our plans to eliminate the direct access and egress to the shopping center at the Route 128 ramp which the Department con- sicered undesirable. Now Mr. Harold Stevens, counsel for the Town of Lexington, requests that the Department of Public Works reaffirm the information given us previously so that people in the town can know that rezoning this property will not conflict with plans of the Department of Public Works. The Town' s question would be completely answered if Com- missioner DiNatale will address a letter to Mr. Stevens as Town Counsel confirming that : 1. There has been no major change in the Department ' s ulti- mate plans for the reconstruction of Route 2 in the vicinity of Spring Street, Lexington from that contem- plated in earlier conversations 2. The Department of Public Works is now aware that Lex- ington has called a Planning Board Hearing for May 1st and issued a warrant for a Special Town Meeting on May 12th to consider rezoning the property in question. 3 Such rezoningwill not conflict with the Department of Public Works ' Basic Plan. la.. Filene ' s has given written assurance to the Department of Public Works that they do not wish to profit from any increase in value of the land resulting from re- zoning and will not request any damages for takings for highway purposes in excess of the actual costs of acqui- sition which were established prior to rezoning action. Perhaps it is presuming too much to make such specific suggestions, but please consider this an attempt to make the Commissioner' s busy schedule a little less burdensome. It would be appreciated if you could let me have a copy of the letter. The Town of Lexington, of course, would like to hear well in advance of the hearing scheduled for May 1st. Many thanks for your help in arranging for me to see the Commissioner. Sincerely, F. B. Gummere 5-5-58 -5- Commonwealth of Massachusetts Dept of Public Works April 30, 1058 Mr.Harold Stevens Town Counsel Town Hall, hexincton, Massachusetts Dear Mr. Stevens It has been called to my attention that a hearing is to be held on May lst,by the Planning Board, concerning a warrant for a special Town Meeting on May 12th, to con- sider re-zoning property at the corner of Spring Street, Route 2 and Route 128 in the Town of Lexington. I am writing you, so that You may have information con- cerning the Department ' s plans for the improvement of Route 2, Route 128 and the relocation of Spring Street, and the construction of modern ramps at Route 2 and Route 12g. Spring Street The Department ' s proposed plan calls for a relocation of Spring Street about 700 feet east of its present crossing at Route 2 Such a relocation world return to the present Spring Street a:.out 1500 feet north of the present Route 2 crossing. Our present plans call for the construction of two ramps However, we have stated to representatives of the Planning Board that these ramps were optional with the Town and would be dependent on the traffic turning movement It has been further stated, that if for any reason the turning movement at this street becomes excessive it may be necessary to construct additional ramps Route 2 The present plans for Route 2 call for the construc- tion of a second roadway on the north side of the present road This would require an additional taking on this side, and could either result in a lower grade at the crest of the hill between Spring Street and 128, or in raising the grade to pass over a re-designed Route 128 depending on the results of the studies for the improvement of Route 128 Although this question has not yet been decided the change in either case would be very slight and would have no effect on the basic design of the highway. 5-5-"8 -6- Route 128 The tremendous industrial development that has taken place along 'route 128, and its attraction to motorists, 128 as now constructed has become inadequate to handle the large volume of present day traffic and the antici- pated traffic for 1980. For this reason studies are now underway for a widening of this highway. The extent of this widening* will not be known until the studies are further along In,,olved in tie proposed work of Route 128 would be the construction of an inter- change designed to modern standards. This would r equire that the present interchange be very much enlarged, and would extend as much as 300 feet further into the vacant land on the northeast quadrant. I briefly describe these changes to you, so that you might have an understanding of what the general plan of the Department consists. This plan is the same as that exhibited at the public hearinn held at 100 Nashua Street, Boston on January 25, 1957. Regarding the cost to the Department for property damage taken in the area in question, between the cost of the land as presently zoned and the cost after re- zoning, Filene 's has given written assurance to the Department of Public Works that they do not wish to profit from any increase in value of the land resulting from re-zoning and will not request any damages for takings for highway purposes in excess of the actual costs of acquisition which were established prior to re-zoning. Written assurance, if only a letter or signed statement, does not suffice for the Department. It would not be binding in the sense that a certain number of dollars on a certain uniform price would be established. It is suggested that to properly bind Filene 's and have the Department in a firm position that Filene ' s give the Department an option to buy, or the right to settle for a taking, at a certain specified rate . This should be a legal document for a specified len th of time and if possible with a plan or rough estimate of the approxi- mate amount of land to be involved attached. Very truly y ours, Anthony N. LiNatale Commissioner 5-5-58 -7- NOTES ON PROPOSED WOOD-TO-BEDFORD STREET ROAD 1. Status of Road Understand purpose of road is to provide an alternate access to air base and that, after construction by State Dept . of Ptblic forks, road is to be given to town to maintain. a If road ' s primary purpose is to provide access to air base, the town should not be asked to maintain it Road is of no benefit to town as only an access road b. If a road is to have a local status, it will have little value as an access to air base. Town will not be able, under present laws, to prohibit the location of entering drivewa,rs and/or local roads every 150 feet along access roads on alternate sides of said road, the entrances being necessary to service adjacent residential and industrial districts through which the access road passes. 2. Location of Road a. Entrance of access road onto Bedford Street between Hinchey Road and Westview Street provides inadequate sight distance to the intersection as it is approached from Bedford b. Proposed location of access road between railroad and Bedford Street bisects the gravel pit area thereby preventing location of large industrial plants. The somewhat extra cost of locating the access road to the southeast of Hinchey Road would be more than offset by the increased taxes the town and Commonwealth would be able to derive from the location of large industrial plants in the gravel pit area. c. The re-location of the northeasterly portion of Testview Street means thEt the only way that the westerly portion of the Town Cemetery (Westview Cemetery) may be entered is through an industrial district It is believed it will be recognized that the present approach for a funeral cortege is superior to the one which will exist if ;Testview Street is r elocated.