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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1959-06-22 PLANNING BOARD MEETING June 22, 1959 A regular meeting of the Lexington Planning Board was held in the Planning Board Office, Town Office Building, on Monday, June 22, 1959 at 7:50 p m. Present were Chairman Abbott, Members Grindle, Mabee, and Soule, and Planning Director Snow. Town Counsel Stevens was present from 8:45 p.m. until 10:15 p.m. Read to the Board and approved by it was the draft of letters addressed to Massachusetts repre- NATIONAL sentatives in Congress and to be signed by the Chair- HTSTORIC men of the Lexington, Lincoln, and Concord Planning PARK Boards, The Chairman signed said letters recording the Boards ' support of bills creating the proposed Minute Man National Park and recommending speedy passage of said legislation. (See addendum. ) Considered by the Board were the following Form A applications which had been submitted for FORMS A determination of Planning Board jurisdiction: #59-46, submitted June 19, 195P by Joseph W. Moore, Agent for Ashton G. Little; plan entitled "Plan of Land in Lexington, Mass.", Owned by Ashton Little, " dated June 10, 1959, scale : 1" = 40 ', Joseph W. Moores, Inc., Reg. Land Surveyor. #59-47, submitted June 22, 1959 by Robert L. Higgins, agent for Town of Lexington; plan entitled "A Compiled Plan of Land in Lexing- ton, Mass.", scale 1" = 100 ' , dated March 1959, John J. Carroll, Town Engineer. #59-48, submitted June 22, 1959 by Robert L. Higgins, agent for Town of Lexington; plan entitled "Compiled Plan of Land in Lexington Mass. ", scale : 1" = 1001 , dated June 17, 1959, John J. Carroll, Town Engineer. Upon motion duly made and seconded it was unani- mously VOTPD: that the plans accompanying Form A applica- tions #59-46, #59-47 and #59-48 do not re- quire approval under the Subdivision Control Law and that the plans be so endorsed. 6-22-59 The Board gave further consideration to COLONIAL the application for approval of the Colonial11 ACRES Acres Section Three definitive subdivision plan . SEC. 3 All matters appearing to be in order, it was unanimously COLONIAL DEVELOPMENT VOTED: that the definitive subdivision plan en- CORP . titled "Colonial Acres Section Three Lexing- ton, Mass.", dated March 20, 1059, which was submitted to the Board by Colonial De- velopment Corp. on May 4, 1959, accompanied by an application for approval of defini- tive plan, Form C, dated March 23, 1459, be and hereby is approved subject to the condition that no building or structure shall be built or placed on any lot with- out the prior consent of the Lexington Board of Health. WAYMINT The attention of the Board was called to REALTY the application of the Waymint Realty Trust for TRUST approval of a definitive subdivision plan entitled - "Paint Rock Lexington, Mass.", submitted on June PAINT ROCK 22, 1959. A hearing relative to said application was set for July 13, 1959 at 8:00 p.m. Considered next by the Board was a summer SUMMER schedule of meetings to coordinate with those to SCHEDULE be held by the Board of Selectmen. It was decided to meet on June 20, July 13, and 27, August 10 and 24, and such additional meetings as might be neces- • nary . HISTORIC The Board considered also notices of hear- DISTRICTS ings to be heard on June 23 and 25, 1959 by the COMMISSION Historic Districts Commission. It was decided to take no action in regard to said petitions. The Board reviewed the discussion it had WILKINS LAND held at its informal meeting on June 16, 1959 FOR relative to obtaining from Mr. Irwin an option to RECREATION purchase the remainder of the Wilkins land it was PURPOSES understood would not be divided into house lots fronting on Grove Street. Mr. Snow reported that IRWIN Mr. Irwin 's last asking price was 1,600 per acre for said land. It was suggested that $500 per acre for what was understood to be appr&ximately lIF acres was a more reasonable price and one which the Board would offer Mr. Irwin. At 8:45 p.m. Mr. Irwin and Town Counsel Stevens met with the Board. In discussing the matter of obtaining an option as noted above, Mr. Irwin o-22-59 -2- agreed to give the Board an option to purchase the remainder of the Wilkins land for $7000. This price was that finally offered by the Board, Mr. Irwin desiring a lump sum offer on the basis that there might be less than 14 acres of land remaining after lots were created on Grove Street It was agreed that option price and the duration of the option could be determined later, it being the con- census that there would be a special town meeting during the autumn and that the Board would wish to present the above matter to the Town at that time . Mr. Stevens was asked to prepare a draft of an option instrument for consideration. Thereupon, Mr Irwin left the meeting, the time being 9:30 p.m. As requested by the Board at its previous meeting, Mr. Snow reported his findings in regard to MINUTE MAN the taking of a portion of Carrig land by the State HIGHLANDS Department of Public Works. He stated that Mr. Hue SEC . 4 of said department had informed him that the taking of Carrie land had been for State highway layout CARRIG purposes, that it was legally possible for Mr. Carrig to obtain access across State land from his subdivi- sion to Pleasant Street, that a request for an access permit must be made in writing on a State D.P.T . form, and that the District Engineer makes a recommendation in regard to such a request which is acted upon by the State Highway Commission. Mr. Snow also said that he had been informed that as of last week Mr. "arrig had not requested an access permit through the local District Engineer' s office With further reference to Mr. Carrig' s sub- division plan, Mr Snow reported that he had been informed by Mr. Hue that in accordance with present D. studies it will be necessary for the State to make an additional taking of Carrig land 100 feet wide and parallel to Route 2 and 150 feet wide and parallel to Pleasant Street in order to provide the necessary land for ramps at the proposed Route 2- Pleasant Street intersection. The above and related matters were discussed by the Board with Mr Stevens with reference to Mr. James A. Carrig' s request for the Board' s informal opinion in regard to his Minute Man Highlands Sec 4 subdivision plan (See June 8, 1950 Planning Board minutes. ) After due consideration it was decided to inform Mr. Carrig that the Board would not approve a preliminary subdivision plan based on Mr. Carrig's December 13, 1956 modified plan for the reason that the plan shows only one possible means of access. Mr. Snow was asked to draft for the Board's consideration 6-22-59 at its next meeting a letter setting forth the Board' s decision and the reasons therefor. VINE BROOK The Board next reviewed with Mr. Stevens its REALTY consideration to date of the Vine Brook Realty Trust TRUST site and apartment building plans for the A 1 dis- - trict on Waltham Street. After said review Mr. Stevens A 1 DISTRICT left the meeting From notes which had been prepared DEVELOPMENT at the Board's informal meeting on June 18, 1959 the PLANS Board then dictated the rough draft of a memorandum which Mr. Snow was asked to have prepared in final form for the Chairman ' s signature. (See addendum ) Read to the Board was Mr. Maloney 's June 16, PROPOSED 1959 letter to the Planning Board requesting that MUNICIPAL consideration be given to acquiring the former Boston PARKING and Maine Railroad land fronting on Merriam Street for a municipal parking area. Mr. Snow was asked to discuss this matter again with Mr. Anthony Cataldo who owns said land, it being understood that Mr. Snow had discussed previously with Mr. Cataldo the possibility of making such an acquisition. The meeting adjourned at 11:15 p.m. " - card H. Soule, Clerk ADDENDUM June 22, 1959 Honorable Edith Nourse Rogers Congress of the United States House of Representatives Washington, D.C. Dear Mrs. Rogers : As chairmen of the Planning Boards of the three towns (Concord, Lexington, and Lincoln) affected by the establishment of the proposed Minute Man National Park, we would like to record ourselves formally in support of your bill, H.R. 5892 and Congressman O'Neill' s bill, H.R. 1932. We urge as speedy passage of this bill as possible, because real estate activity both within the area of the proposed Park and adjacent thereto has been 6-22-59 -3- stimulated by the publicity accompanying the 'Introduc- tion of this bill into Congress. Some of this activity could be prejudicial to the complete success of the Park as planned. We are finding it difficult "to hold the line' . A quick passage of the bill would be of mutual benefit Sincerely, /s/ Chairman, Concord Planning Board /s/ Charles T. Abbott Chairman, Lexington Planning Board /s/ Chairman, Lincoln Planning Board (P.S. Similar letters were sent to Reps. McCormack and O 'Neil and Senators Kennedy and Saltonstall. ) June 24, 1959 Mr Alfred P. Troneano 114 Waltham Street Lexington 73, Mass . Re : Vine Brook Realty Trust Garden Apartment Development Dear Mr.Tropeano: In reply to your letter of June 16, 1959, the Planning Board has considered carefully The Vine Brook Realty Trust site and building plans which you filed with the Board on June 8, 1959. It is the unanimous opinion of the members of the Board that it is not in a position at this time to recommend to the Board of Appeals teat said plans and building design constitute a desirable develop- ment in and will not be detrimental to the neighborhood and to the town as a whole. It is the desire of the Planning Board to work with representatives of the Trust to develop plans and designs which the Board believes it could recom- mend. To that end the following suggestions are offered for your consideration . The layout of Capt . Parker Lane appears to need further study, particularly with reference to the location of the proposed subdivision street on the opposite side of Worthen Road from said Lane. The Planning Board recommends that reconsideration be given to the location of the Lane 6-22-59 outside the restriction line as suggested in an earlier meeting with Mr. Reenstierna. It would appear that such a location would involve very little more construction work than the parking area shown on the plan. Building locations as shown on the site plan also appear to need further study. It is believed that they should be farther apart and arranged in such a manner as to present a general feeling of more spaciousness. It is believed that this effect can be achieved by assemb- ling some of the buildings into larger units as indicated on the original site plan presented at Town Meeting The greater space between buildings would allow room for the location of outdoor sitting areas and the planting of a number of larger trees to provide shade and variety to the rather uniform design of the buildings It is suggested that parking area design and loca- tion be given additional studs . It appears that total space allocated for parking space is sufficient but that the usable space in the parking areas themselves is much less than indicated on the site plan. The recommendation is made that the areas be redesigned to provide driveways as shown on said original site plan and so that autos can maneuver into position in stalls ten feet wide. It is also recommended that the parking areas not be located so near to buildings in order that these facilities be more compatible with residential design. With greater distance between areas and buildings there would be ample space for tree and shrub plantings. With reference to the buildings themselves, the Planning Board is primarily interested in exterior appear- ances. Concerning these, however, the Board considers the plans too sketchy to make any specific recommendations at this time. For instance, one building has no chimneys. If projected to basements, the chimneys located in other buildings would pass through partitions and not be related to incinerators or boiler rooms. Roofs will no doubt re- quire small dormers or louvres for ventilation. The side elevation of one building and parts of others indicate no openings in the walls. It is suggested, therefore, that these and other architectural features be studied further before the building plans are presented for further con- sideration. Very truly yours, LEXINGTON PLANNING BOARD /s/ Charles T. 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