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Home My WebLink About1959-02-09I PLANNING BOARD MINUTES February 9, 1959 A regular meeting of the Lexington Planning Board was held in the office of the Planning Board, Town Office Building, on Monday, February 9, 1959 at 7:35 p.m. Present were Chairman Grindle, Members Abbott, Burnell, Jaquith and Soule, and Planning Director Snow. The Board approved the minutes of its Febru- MINUTES ary 21 1959 meeting. Also approved by the Board were the follow- ing bills which had been presented for payment: BILLS Minute -man Publications, Inc., advertising --M.70; Graphic Reproductions, Inc., white prints --$8.10; Foto -Beam, Inc., drafting supplies -415.39. Considered next was the following Form A application for determination of Planning Board jurisdiction: ' #59-10, submitted February 9, 1959 by Roland M. VTardrobe; plan entitled "A Com- piled Plan of Land in Lexington, Mass. itA Scale: 1" = kO', dated Feb. 21 1959, Miller & Nylander, C.E.'s & Surveyors. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was unanimously VOTED: that the Lexington Planning Board determines that the plan accompanying Form A applica- tion #59-10 does not require approval under the Subdivision Control Law, and that said plan be so endorsed. Considered also were the notices of peti- tions to be heard by the Board of Appeals on Feb- ruary 17, 1959. It was decided to take no action in regard to said petitions. Mr. Snow called the Board's attention to the fact that there had been obtained that day from Henning W. and Brita E. Swenson an option to purchase a parcel of their land fronting on Mar- rett Road for the future location of a section of ' Worthen Road. He said that the original of the option instrument had been given to the Town Counsel for filing with the Town Clerk. FORM A BOARD OF APPEALS STREET OPTION SWENSON 2-9-59 -2- In addition to the 1959 budget for General ' 1959 Expenses which the Planning Board approved on Decem- BUDGET ber 15, 19590 the Board approved the following 1959 personal services budget which it had previously con- sidered informally Planning Director 18,200 Secretary and/or others 1,800 Total X10,000 Messrs. Abbott and Grindle met with the APPROPRIA- Appropriations Committee from 8:30 to 9:45 p.m. TIONS to discuss the Planning Board's 1959 budget and COMMITTEE other requests for appropriations which the Board was recommending in connection with various articles to be placed on the warrant for the March annual town meeting. From 8:30 to 9:50 p.m. Messrs. Nylander, VINE BROOK Reenstierna and Tropeano met with the other mem- REALTv bers of the Board to discuss the Vine Brook Realty TRUST Trust site plan and the Board's site plan studies for the Waltham Street garden apartment district. As a basis for the discussion Mr. Reenstierna gave the Board Mr. Manaselian's February 5, 1959 letter addressed to said trust in which he stated that the ' Board's site plan studies would not be acceptable to the mortgagor or the Federal Housing Administra- tion for the reasons that there were too many units for the area, front and rear yards of some build- ings were the same, distances between buildings were below F.H.A. standards, there was no room for park - Ing areas, and in one case a road only served buildings located on one side of said road. Members of the Board pointed out that if Mr. Manaselian's statement were true it also applied to his plan for the reason that the Board's studies used the same standards as those drawn on the Manaselian plan. After further discussion no agreement was reached in regard to a site plan for said district. In regard to the proposed location of Worthen Road Mr. Reenstierna stated that the Board should not expect him to pay for said road if it was to be lo- cated as proposed by the Board. He stated further that it was the opinion of those working for him that no satisfactory site plan could be made without mov- ing the Board's recommended location of Worthen Road at least fifty feet to the northeast. On a print furnished by Mr. Nylander there was then drawn the Trust's proposed location for Worthen Road. This ' location was discussed for some length of time sand then taken under consideration by the Board. 2-9-59 -3- After Messrs. Nylander, Reenstierna and Tropeano had left the meeting, the Board gave con- sideration to the petition for rezonng'land on Maple Street from residential to garden apartment use. As had previously been requested by the Board Mr. Snow gave the Board a detailed estimate of costs for determining; the fee to nay for all ex- penses in connection with holding a hearing on said petition. Upon reviewing said estimate the Board set said fee at $45.00 and asked Mr. Snow to notify Mr. Vincent Ippolito, one of the principals interested in the rezoning proposal, of the setting of the application fee and to inform him that the fee must be paid to the Town before the date set for the hearing. Read to the Board and considered by it was an undated letter received the previous week from Irving H. Mabee, Chairman of the Town Meeting Mem- bers Association, offering the services of the association's membership in carrying out any re- search, gathering information, or participating in some project which might be helpful to the Board either now or in the future. (See addendum.) It was decided through Mr. Irwin to thank the Assoc ' ciation for its generous offer and to inform it that while the Board did not have at the time a project wherein it was believed the membership could be of assistance, the Board would keep the offer in mind. The Board reviewed its program and pre- sentation at the Town Meeting Members Association meeting held during the previous week. Plans were then discussed for a somewhat similar pre- sentation to the Hancock Church Men's Club at its meeting on Thursday, February 12, 1959 at 8:00 p.m. Final arrangements were made for said meet- ing. Mr. Jaquith reported that during the pre- vious afternoon he, Mr. Stevens and Mr. Snow had given further study to and prepared a draft of the Board's proposal to regulate the shape and width of lots by means of an amendment to the Zoning bar -law. Copies of said draft were dis- tributed to members of the Board for discussion and consideration. It was decided that while the draft solved a number of problems created by the laying out of irregularly-shaped lots, there were ' still other problems which the draft did not solve, particularly in the cases of lots fronting on the inside curves of streets and on cul-de-sacs. Be - REZONING PETITION MAPLE ST. A 1 DISTRICT PRO- POSAL TOWN MEETING MEMBERS ASSOCIATION HANCOCK CHURCH MEN'S CLUB MEETING PROPOSED LOT REGULATIONS 2-9-59 -4- fore considering the matter further, the Board re- ' quested Mr. Snow to obtain, if available, addi- tional information in regard to how other towns in the Boston Metropolitan Area had attempted to solve these same problems by zoning regulations. There being no further business to transact, the meeting was adjourned at 10:15 p.m. Richard H. Soule Clerk Y is ,. , * * * T ADDENDUM 25 Highland Avenue Lexington, Mass. Planning Board Lexington, Massachusetts Attention: Thomas S. Grindle, Chairman ' Gentlemen: The Town Meeting Members Association has made a study of possible ways to improve their service to the Town and its own membership. Recognizing the pressure of time on the Indivi- dual members of various Town Boards we respectfully offer the services of our membership in carrying out any research, seeking of information, or ot?-er such project as might be helpful to you either now or in the future. If you have such need we invite you to communicate with our Chairman with the assurance that he will assign a committee in line with the particular project in mind, this committee to be under ,your direction and to report directly to you. We hope that fulfillment of such projects will assist you in your work and at the same time provide a rewarding experience for those participating. Sincerely, T014N MEETING MEKBFRS ASSN. Is/ Irving H. Mabee, Chairman , o-8-59 -3- I Board on May 222 1959 be and hereby is tentatively approved. It was decided that the next meeting of the Board would be held on June 16, 1959. Thereupon the meeting was adjourned at 11:00 p.m. 2tr-'d H. Soule, Clerk u