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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1959-06-29 PLANNING BOARD M ETTNG June 20, 1959 A regular meeting of the Lexington Planning Board was held in the Planning Board Office, Town Office Building, on Monday, June 29, la59 at 7:45 p.m. Present were Chairman Abbott, Members Grindle, Mabee, Burnell and Soule, and Planning Director Snow Town Counsel Stevens was present from 8 45 until the end of the meeting. Approved by the Board were the following bills which had been presented for payment : Samuel BILLS ' . Snow, car allowance for June, 1959-425.00 ; David R. Cooper, professional services and car mileage, June 16 through June 26, 1959-- 211.90; James J Carroll, 1959 Listing Book--x1.25; Minute-man Pub- lications, Inc , advertising--%.90. Considered next by the Board were the notices of hearincs to be held by the Board of Appeals on BOARD OF July 7, 1°5°. It was decided to take no action on APPEALS the petitions to be heard with the excertion of those of Associates 'Realty Trust and Charter House of Mass. , ' Inc In regard to the two named petitions the Board dictated memoranda which Mr Snow was asked to pre- pare in letter form for filing with the Board of Appeals . (See addenda ) Read to the Board and approved by the same was the draft of a letter to the Cary Realty Trust CARY ACRES calling upon said Trust to complete the required SEC . 2 work to be done in the Cary Acres, Sec . 2 subdivi- sion before August 17, 1059. (See addendum and CARY REALTY June 8, 1959 Planning Board minutes. ) TRUST Also read to the Board and approved by it was the draft of a letter to James A. Carrig setting MINUTE MAN forth an informal opinion in regard to a proposed HIGHLANDS preliminary plan based on the modification of the SFC. 4 Minute Man Highlands, Sec. h definitive subdivision - plan . (See addendum and June 8, 1959 Planning Board CARRIG minutes ) 'ead to the Board and discussed by it was Mr Maloney 's June 23, 1°59 letter from the Selectmen STREET requesting the Planning Board to recommend a solu- OPTION tion to the problem set forth in a petition relative to providing a second means of vehicular access for LUONGO Fern Street and the adjacent residential area. It was decided to recommend extending Buckman Drive 6-29-59 -2- from its present terminus to Moreland Avenue, said extension to be within the Town ' s water line ease- ment which had been designed for future street lay- out purposes. Mr. Snow reported that during the summer of 1957 he had, at the Board 's request, in- vestigated the possibility of obtaining from Mr. Pasquale Luongo, owner of the fee in said easement , an option to purchase for street purposes the land within said easement. Mr. Snow said that no action had been taken in regard to the matter when it was found that Mr. Luongo wished to continue to culti- vate the land as a truck garden for an additional number of years mhe Board decided the need of a street nowhadsufficient urgency to obtain an op- tion as soon as possible. This Mr. Snow was asked to do As previously suggested by Mr. Stevens, McCORMACK Messrs. McCormack and Brun came to the meeting at AND BRUN 8: 5 D.M. to discuss their proposal for subdividing their land adjacent to the Harrington School property. (See June 8, 1950 Planning Board minutes. ) Mr. Carroll, Supt . of Public Works, and Mr. Stevens were also present. The discussion was centered around a comparison of the McCormack and Brun pre- liminary subdivision plan prepared by Miller and Nylander and dated Jan. 15, 1957, a second plan being undated and being Miller and Nylander's inter- pretation of a Planninr Board 200-scale sketch plan of the area, and a plan entitled "Suggested Subdivi- sion of McCormack-Brun and Adjacent Lands in Lexing- ton, Mass . ", prepared by Mr.Snow for the Planning Board and dated August 214 1958. Points of view in regard to the relative costs of construction of the subdivisions as shown on the above plans, usable land, and the relationship of the McCormack-Brun land to adjacent properties were all considered. No conclusions were reached after said discussion. It was decided, however, that Messrs. McCormack and Brun would have their subdivision plan superimposed upon that prepared for the Board and that this new plan would be the basis for a further conference to be held at the Planning Board meeting on July 13, 1959. Thereupon Messrs. McCormack, Brun, and Carroll left the meeting at 9 45 p.m. There was then held with Mr. Stevens a general discussion of current problems before the Board, the meeting being adjourned at 10 30 p.m. Ric . rd H. Soule, Clerk 6-29-59 -2- ADDENDUM ' Board of Appeals July 6, 1959 Town Office Building Re: Charter House of Mass. Inc. Lexington 73, Mass, petition to erect a sign Gentlemen: Reference is made to the petition of Charter House of Mass. , Inc. to vary Lexington Sign By-law to erect and maintain a sign on Lot 12, Patterson Road in Lexington. The matter was discussed with the Town Counsel. It was his opinion that under the Sign By-law the Board of Appeals is not given discretion to vary said By-law as it applies to non-accessory signs in a residential area. In addition a non-accessory sign in a residential area would be in violation of the Lexington Zoning By-law. The Planning Board believes further that a petition for a sign advertising a firm located in another town should not be granted. It is the Board's opinion that such a sign would be out of keeping with standards this town has always tried to maintain . For this reason and those set forth above the Planning Board wishes to be recorded as being opposed to the granting of the Charter House petition. Very truly yours, LEXINGTON PLANNING BOARD /s/ Charles T. Abbott, Chairman July 6, 1959 Board of Appeals Town Office Building Re: Associates Realty Trust Lexington 73, Mass petition for sign in A 1 district Gentlemen: Reference is made to the Associates Realty Trust petition to vary Art. III, Sec . 2.a.l.g. of the Town ' s Sign By-law to erect a V-shaped, illuminated, painted ground Bulletin for the Lexington Inn. The matter was discussed with the Town Counsel. It was his opinion that Art. III, Sec . 2 of said By-law applies only to business areas and that any petition for sign in an A 1 district should be made under Sec.l.A.1. of Article III. 6-29-59 The Board has examined the plan of the sign sub- mitted by the petitioner It was noted that the sign would be almost as long as the Selectmen' s Room and, including its mounting, would be so tall that most of it would reach to, and some of it would be above, the eaves of the southern facade of the Town Office Build- ing. In view of this fact the Board reaffirms its position taken in regard to the January, 1957 petition of said trust, namely, that an advertising sign of such large size as the petitioner proposes to erect is entirely out of keeping with any use in Lexington and with the standards this town has always tried to maintain . For this reason the Planning Board wishes to be recorded as being opposed to the granting of said petition. Sincerely yours , LEXINGTON PLANNING BOARD /s/ Charles T. Abbott, Chairman June 30, 1959 Cary Realty Trust 39 Fairbanks Road Re: Cary Acres, Sec . 2 Lexington 73, Mass. Cary Realty Trust Gentlemen: Reference is made to your definitive subdivision plan entitled "A Subdivision of Land Court Case No. 6962 Plan of Lots in Cary Acres Section Two Lexington-Mass.', etc Under terms of the agreement as set forth in your appli- cation for approval of said plan, the application being dated May 9, 1955 and signed by Anne and Joseph P. Spinelli, you agreed to complete all required improve- ments within one year from date of approval of the plan by the Lexington Planning Board, said date of approval beinL June 2 1• As you will note three years have teaks*: - -- _ work was supposed to have been completed. It is understood that this work has not been completed to the satisfaction of the Super- intendent of Public Works, that the work involves sub- stantial loaming and seeding of the shoulders of the roads, and that to our knowledge there has been no attempt to complete this work within the past year. This is to notify you that unless this work is done to the Superintendent 's satisfaction by August 17, 1959, the Planning Board will look to the Peerless Insurance Company, as Surety on the bond, to perform the work or in lieu 6-29-59 -3- thereof to pay the penal sum of the bond to the Town as liquidated damage as provided in the bond. Very truly yours, LEXINGTON PLANNING BOARD /5/ Charles T. Abbott, Chairman cc : Harold E. Stevens Supt . of Public Works Peerless Insurance Co. June 30, 1959 Mr. James A. Carrig 1374 Massachusetts Avenue Re: Minute Man Highlands Cambridge, Mass . Section !} Reference is made to your meeting with the Planning Board on June 16, 1959 and your request for an informal opinion in regard to what action the Board might take if you submitted for approval a preliminary plan based upon the one which you filed with the Board, said plan being entitled ' Revised Plan of Lots in Minute Man High- lands Section Four Lexington-Mass. ", dated Dec . 13, 1956 and prepared by Miller & Nylander. This is to inform you that after due consideration it is the opinion of the Board that if a preliminary subdivi- sion plan based on the one referred to above were sub- mitted for approval under the subdivision control law, said preliminary plan would not be approved for the rea- son that only one possible means of access is shown on said plan. Very truly yours, LEXINGTON PLANNING BOARD /s/ Charles T. Abbott, Chairman