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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1959-04-13PLANNING BOARD MINUTES ' April 13, 1959 A regular meeting of the Lexington Planning Board was held in the Planning Board Office, Town Office Building, on Monday, April 13, 1959 at 7:14.0 p.m. Present were Chairman Abbott, Members Burnell, Crindle, Mabee and Soule, and Planning Director Snow. Town Counsel Stevens was also present from 8:30 to 9:15 P.M. Approved by the Board were the minutes of MINUTES its April 6, 1959 meeting. Approved also by the Board were the following bills which had been presented for payment: To be BILLS paid from 1958 Carry-over funds: Spaulding -Moss, printing of Zoning By -laws --$180100; to be paid from 1959 Current Expenses: Marion M. Bliss, Drafting services Mar. 31, April 12 7, 81 28 hrs--X56.00; Minute -man Publications, advertising --$4.90; Graphic Reproductions, white prints --$1.62; L.M. Foster, o office supplies -41.93. Considered next by the Board was the follow- ing Form A application submitted for determination FORM A of Planning Board jurisdiction: #59-27, submitted April 13, 1959 by Ingeborg Junge; plan entitled "A Subdivision of Land Court Case No. 10065, Land in Lexington - Mass.", scale: 1" = 401, dated July 15, 1958, Miller & Nylander, C.E.'s & Surveyors. It was called to the Board's attention that it had previously determined that this plan did not re- quire approval under the subdivision control law. (See minutes of August 41 1958). The plan not hav- ing been recorded during the six-month period fol- lowing endorsement by the Planning Board, the Registry of Deeds required that the applicant re- submit the plan to the Board for a determination. Thereupon, upon motion duly made and seconded, it was unanimously VOTED: that the Lexington Planning Board determines that the plan accompanying Form A application #59-27 does not require approval under the Subdivision Control Law, and that said plan ' be so endorsed. 4-13-59 Mr. Fulton stated that the subdivision con- sisting of 22 lots was an extension of the first section of the Oak Hill Estates development, the proposed subdivision fronting on an extension of Fulton Road and two new unnamed roads, one entering from East Street and a second connecting Fulton Road with the first new road. He then explained how the Beacon Oil Company's four -inch high pres- sure pipe line would be protected when drains were constructed under and roads over said pipe line. Mr. Dieter inquired as to the width of the road passing between lots fronting on East Street, said width being 40' whereas the remainder of the proposed road was indicated as 50' in width. He was informed that the Board did not consider this to be an obstacle to the use of the opening be- tween said lots. He then inquired about the top soil which a number of years ago apparently had been scraped from his land which he had recently purchased, said top soil now being located on the land of the Wynwood Associates. It was stated that , the Board considered this to be a matter for him to settle with the subdivider. Mr. Comeau asked what Read to the Board was the Selectmen's April 7s RECREATION 1959 letter calling the Board's attention to the fact COMM2TTEE that Mr. Paul Hanson's term as a member of the Recrea- tion Committee would expire on April 30, 1959. It was decided that Mr. Hanson be asked to serve for a three- year term expiring on April 30, 1962. The Chairman telephoned Mr. Hanson who indicated his willingness to serve. Thereupon Mr. Snow was asked to prepare the necessary appointment papers for action at the follow- ing Planning Board meeting. At 8:00 p.m. the Board held a public hear - OAK HILL ing relative to the application of Wynwood Asso- ESTATES ciates, Inc. for aproval of a definitive subdivi- SEC. 2 sion plan entitled Oak Hill Estates Section Two - Lexington, Mass."s dated Feb. 4s 1959, said pro- WYNWOOD posed subdivision being situated northeasterly of ASSOCIATES Lowell Street and southeasterly of East Street. INC. Present were Messrs. John W. Fulton and Douglas J. Wacomb, representing Wynwood Associates, Mr. Carlisle L. Dieter, of 247 East Street, and Mr. Charles C. Comeau of Waltham. The Chairman read the notice of the hearing as it had been sent to all property own- ers abutting the area to be subdivided, the same notice having been published in the April 2s 1959 issue of the Lexington Minute -man. He then explained the procedure in conducting the hearing and called upon the subdivider to present the definitive plan. Mr. Fulton stated that the subdivision con- sisting of 22 lots was an extension of the first section of the Oak Hill Estates development, the proposed subdivision fronting on an extension of Fulton Road and two new unnamed roads, one entering from East Street and a second connecting Fulton Road with the first new road. He then explained how the Beacon Oil Company's four -inch high pres- sure pipe line would be protected when drains were constructed under and roads over said pipe line. Mr. Dieter inquired as to the width of the road passing between lots fronting on East Street, said width being 40' whereas the remainder of the proposed road was indicated as 50' in width. He was informed that the Board did not consider this to be an obstacle to the use of the opening be- tween said lots. He then inquired about the top soil which a number of years ago apparently had been scraped from his land which he had recently purchased, said top soil now being located on the land of the Wynwood Associates. It was stated that , the Board considered this to be a matter for him to settle with the subdivider. Mr. Comeau asked what i..-13-59 -2- was to be done with his irregular parcel of land which was mostly land -locked but had some frontage on Lowell Street. He was informed that the Board had no plans for the development of said parcel. There being no further discussion in regard to the subdivision, an expression of opinion was asked of those attending the hearing. Two persons indicated that they were in favor of approving the subdivision plan, no one else indicated either approval or disapproval. Thereupon the plans were taken under advisement and the hearing declared. closed at 8:30 p.m. The Board endorsed the "Green Valley Section Four" and "Colonial Acres Section Four" definitive subdivision plans. Both plans were given to Mr. Stevens, the first to be recorded by him in the Registry of Deeds, and the second to be held by him for registration in the Land Registration Office at such time as he had obtained from the Colonial De- velopment Corp. grants of easements and utilities in the Colonial Acre development. In response to a telephone call from the chairman of the Lynnfield Planning Board with ref- erence to House Bill No. 27251 the Board discussed with Mr. Stevens what it was understood was the content of the proposed legislation and its impli- cations in regard to the rezoning of land. Mr. Stevens was asked to obtain a copy of the bill and to advise the Board on what action it might take in regard to said proposed legislation. After Mr. Stevens left the meeting, Mr.Snow called the Board's attention to the Third Urban De- sign Conference to be held by and at Harvard's Graduate School of Design all day Saturday, April 25, 1959. Since six large scale residential devel- opments were to be discussed by the conference, Mr. Snow said he thought members of the Board might be particularly interested in attending the sessions. The Board voted to reimburse Mr. Snow $5.00 for the conference.registration fee to pay for a copy of a resume of'the conference proceedings for the Board's use. Mr. Snow gave a report of his conference with Miss Constance Williams, Clerk of Senior Liv- ing, Inc., a Massachusetts corporation, one of ' whose purposes is "to provide elderly persons on a non-profit basis with housing facilities and services specially designed to meet the . . . needs GREEN VALLEY SEC. 4 BUSA COLONIAL ACRES SEC. 4 COLONIAL DEVELOPMENT CORP. PROPOSED LEGISLATION H.NO. 2725 URBAN DESIGN CONFERENCE SENIOR LIVING INC. 4-13-59 of the aged . ." He stated that upon Miss Williams' inquiry as to the possibilities of build- ing garden apartment homes to meet said purpose, he suggested that the corporation consider purchas- ing, as a pilot project, one or two acres of property in the A 1 district in the Woburn and Cottage Streets area with the idea in mind of assem- bling small house lots into one parcel, wrecking or removing the houses on said lots, and redeveloping the land purchased. He said he stressed the advan- tages of such a project which he believed was badly needed, some of the advantages being the comparatively low value of property in the area, the location of the Lexinmton Nursing Association headquarters on ^!oburn Street, the project's nearness to Lexington Center, and the prospect of the project serving as a nucleus for the improvement of the rneneral area. At 10:00 p.m. Mr. Paul J. McCormack came to McCORMACK the meeting for the purpose of discussing with the PROFESSIONAL Board his proposal for a professional office build - OFFICE ing which he would like to locate on a lot numbered BUILDING 789 Massachusetts Avenue, said lot being adjacent to a local business district but located in a two- family dwelling district. Mr. McCormack described the lot as having an area in excess of 20,000 sq. ft., a depth of approximately 21L0 feet, and in addition to having frontage on Barnes Place had also a frontage of 150 feet on Massachusetts Avenue. He showed the Board a sketch of a building approximately 84 feet wide facing Massachusetts Avenue, said sketch being dated May, 1958 and prepared by Koller Associates, Inc., Architects and Engineers. He stated that if it was within the jurisdiction of the Board of Appeals to issue a variance for the construction of such building on the premises described, he intended to petition the Board of Appeals for said variance. The Board stated its position should Mr. McCormack petition the Board of Appeals for a variance, point- ing out that under Section 5 of the zoning by-law all buildings and uses not set forth in R 2 districts are expressly prohibited, and also that any rezoning necessary to provide for a professional office build- ing should be done by a town meeting and not by the Board of Appeals. Mr. McCormack left the meeting at 10:30 p.m. at which time the Planning Board meeting was ad- journed. 1 Richard H. Soule, Clerk