HomeMy WebLinkAbout1959-11-30 • PLANNTNG BOA7'D MEMING
November 30, 1959
A regular meeting of the Lexington Planning
' oard was held in the Planning Board office, Town
Office Building, on Monday, November 30, 1959 at
7 •1r. p Present were Chairman Abbott, Members
Burnell, Grindle, Mabee, and Soule, and Planning
Director Snow. Town Counsel Stevens was also pre-
sent Thom (1 '35 to 8 5o p.m.
Brought to the attention of the Board were
letters dated Nov. 17, 1959, from the Concord and MINUTE MAN
Lexington Boards of Selectmen relative to repre- HISTORIC
sentatives of the Lexington, Lincoln, and Concord PARK
Planning Boards meeting to discuss mutual problems
which might arise in connection with the development JOINT
of the IT nute Man National Historic Park. Mr. Snow MEETING
reported that the chairman of the Lincoln Planning
Board had asked that such a meeting be held in the
Lincoln Town House on Thursday, December 17, 1959,
at 8 00 n.m. Messrs Abbott and Snow agreed to
attend said meeting and represent Lexington.
Taken unser Lonsideration were the following
Form A apnlications for determination of Planning FORMS A
Board jurisdiction '
5q-79, submitted November 25, 1059 by Mt.s .
Joseph Fitzgerald; plan entitled "A Sub-
division of L C C No 6807 Land in Lexing-
ton, Mass ." , dated Oct . 31, 1°59, Scale: 1"
= ) 0 ' , Miller 9 Nylander,C .E. ' s e- Surveyors
#50-8o, submitted November 30, 1959 by
Ichard F. Soule; plan entitled " A Subdivi-
sion of Land Court Case No. 9475 Land in Lex-
ington, Mass . " , Scale : 1" = 40' , dated June
2l , 1959, Miller & Nylander, C. E. 's 8- Sur-
veyors
Upon motion duly mate and seconded, it was
unanimously
VOTED: that the Lexington Planning Board deter-
mines that the plans accompanying Form A
applications #59-79 and #59-80 do not re-
quire approval under the Subdivision Control
Law and that said plans be so endorsed.
At 8'0C p.m. the Board held a public hearing
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relative to the application for approval of a sub-
MIDDLE division on property of Eugene C. Roberts III situated
RIDGE in the northerly part of Lexington and to be known as
SEC . 1i "Middle Ridge Section Four Lexington, Mass ", which is
situated between the existing subdivisions known as
ROBE-TS Sections Two and Three of the Middle Ridge development
Six persons including Mr. Roberts attended the hearing
The Chairman read the notice of the hearing as it had
been sent to all property owners deemed to be affected
and as had been published in the November 12, 1959 issue
of the LexinrTton Minute-man . He then explained the pro-
cedure in conducting the hearing and called upon Mr.
Roberts, the subdivider, to present his plan
Mr Roberts stated that the subdivision would
consist of 14 lots fronting on about 14.30 feet of Turn-
ing Neill ''oad. Pointing out the low area through
whlch said road would pass, he said that it was his
opinion that, as in the case of the Section 3 subdivi-
sion, said area would be well drained after the instal-
lation of drain pipes within the street right-of-way.
Mr. Roberts also stated in a general way his proposal
for developing his adjacent undeveloped land, for the
location of a new rca d, and for setting apart a parcel
of the land approximately two to six acres in size for
the common use of the residents in the Middle Ridge
area Messrs . Robert B Whitman of 9 Demar Road, Lee
Whitman of Turning Mill Road, and Raymond C . Quick of
33 Turninr Mill Road, asked questions in regard to im-
proving drainage of the general area and the setting
aside of common land, said questions being answered by
Mr. Roberts .
After the discussion was concluded, the Chairman
asked for an indication from those present as to
whether or not they were in favor of the plan as pre-
sented. Five persons indicated that they were in favor
of said plan No person indicated that he was opposed
to it . Thereupon, the chairman said the plans would be
taken under advisement and declared the hearing closed
at 8-18 p.m.
From 8 20 to 8 35 n.m. Messrs. Antonio and Alfred
GREEN Busa met with the Board for the purpose of submitting
VALLEY an application for approval of the definitive subdivi-
SEC . 5 sion plan entitled 11Green Valley Section Five, " dated
August 6, 1050 Mr. Antonio Busa pointed out on the
BZSA plan approved by the Supt , of Public Works a box cul-
vert to be constructed for the purpose of conducting
Munroe Brook under Lillian Road, and inquired as to
whose responsibility it was to construct said culvert
He then read to the Board Mr. Tropeano ' s January 31,
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1958 letter to the Selectmen in regard to the flowage
of said brook. Mr . Busa said that a number of years
ago the runoff of the watershed which the brook
drains was such that a 48" nine which had been laid
two years ago under a temporary road was adequate to
take care of the flowage whereas now there had been
so much water diverted into the watershed area that a
48" pine size was no 1^nger adequate. The Messrs.
Busa were told that the Borrd would take the matter
under advisement and confer with the Sunt . of Public
Works and Town Counsel before making any recommenda-
tion
After Messrs. Busa had left the meeting Mr
Stevens met with the Board. The above matter was PROPOSED
mentioned to Mr Stevens It was decided, however, SUBDIVISION
to consider the problem in detail at the Planning CONTROL
Board's next meeting. Mr. Stevens pointed out that LAW LEGIS-
in regard to this and similar matters which the Board LATION
had to consider, he had drafted a bill which he pro-
posed to introduce into the legislature, said bill
authorizing towns to appropriate money to compensate
subdividers for constructing ways or services to
greater width or size than required in said subdivi-
sions . (See addendum. )
' Mr. Stevens also called to the Board' s atten-
tion another bill which he had drafted and which he
nronosed to have introduced, said bill further regu-
lating a recording or plans under the Subdivision
Control Law (See addendum. )
Mr. Stevens also called to the Board 's atten-
tion his letter of November 18, 1959 to the Planning WILKINS LAND
Director enclosing an original and conformed copy of FOR RECREA-
an instrument executed by Donald K. Irwin et ux, TIONAL
dated November 13, 1r9, extending until April 15, PURPOSES
1960 the date for the exercise of the option which -
they granted to the Town by instrument dated Septem- IRWIN
ber 2, lcr9. ( See minutes of September 8, 1959 Plan-
ninr Board meeting. ) Mr. Stevens stated that in view
of the fact the expiration date in the original
option was November 15, 1959 and the Town had not
scheduled, as previously planned, a special town
meeting before said date, he had taken action to pre-
serve the Town 's interests in acquiring the portion
of the Wilkins property which was under option to the
Irwins and which the Planning Board was recommending
be acquired for playground and recreational purposes.
fith reference to the town's acquiring the MAC KEEN
MacKeen property on Massachusetts Avenue for street STREW OPTION
purposes, Mr Stevens reported that he had received
1-?0-59 -! -
a letter from Mr. Francis Smith, attorney for the
MacKeens, that the town' s offer of .,13,E5n0 for said
land was not acceptable to his client. (See Plan-
ning Board' s minutes of October 26, 1959) It was
decided that Mr. Stevens would reaffirm the Board' s
opinion that the offer of 513,500 was fair.
The Planning Board next met with the Select-
CENTRAL men in their office to discuss with them and repre-
SCFOOL sentatives of the School and Appropriation Committees
PARK the general proposal for preparing a study plan for
PROJECT the central school nark project, and the transfer
of 11200 from the Reserve Fund to the Planning Board
expense account for the employment of a graduate
student to assist Mr. Snow in the preparation of
said study plan. (See Planning Board minutes of
Nov 23, 1059, see also the Selectmen ' s minutes of
November 30, 1°5° for a detailed discussion of the
study plan nroject. ) At the conclusion of the con-
ference the Appropriation Committee decided in favor
of transferring said sum. (See addendum )
The Planning Board returned to its meeting at
9:30 p.m.
The Board' s attention was called to the in-
LOT STUIX ability of several members of the Board to attend
the scheduled informal conference to study Mr.
NORTON Norton' s "Special Report on Subdivision Practices
and Lot Shapes." The conference was rescheduled
for December 11, 1959 at 7 :30 p.m
The Board took under consideration the
CEDAR GLEN application of Dianne Estates, Inc . for approval
of the Cedar Glen preliminary subdivision plan. Mr.
DIANNE Snow showed to the Board the study which he had made
ESTATES, INC of said subdivision and particularly the one he recom-
mended as a satisfactory road design for the proposed
development . The latter study met with the approval
of the Board. Upon motion duly made and seconded it
was unanimously
VOTED: that the preliminary subdivision plan
entitled "Preliminary Plan of Cedar
Glen Lexington., Mass. ", dated Oct. K,
1959, which was submitted to the Plan-
ning Board by Dianne Estates, Inc . on
Nov. 16, 1950, be and hereby is dis-
approved for the reason that the align-
ment of the sidelines of the proposed
road and the varying width of the right-
of-way
make an unattractive street layout
and do not conform to good engineering
practice
11-3r- 9 -5-
Mr. Snow was asked to draft upon the print
of the subdivision plan the vote of the Board and
in red ink to indicate the Board' s recommentation
for a road design, said print to be returned to
the applicant together with a letter notifying
said applicant of the Planning Board' s action in
regard to the Cedar Glen plan.
There being no further business for the Board
to consider the Board adjourned its meeting at 10 :20
p.m.
/ ' I ,
Ri hard H. Soule,
Clerk
,: ,• 3•.
ADDENDUM
AN ACT FURTHER REGULATING THE RECORDING OF PLANS
UNDER THE SUBDIVISION CONTROL LAW
Section SIX of Chapter )41 of the General Laws,
as appearing in section 7 of chapter 674 of the
acts of 193, as amended by inserting after the
word "plan," the first time it appears in line 11
as inserted by said chapter 207, the words• --or,
if an appeal has been taken, that a final decree
has been entered by the court sustaining the
approval of the plan .
AN ACT AUTHORIZING TOWNS TO APPROPRIATE MONEY TO
COMPENSATE SUBDIVIDER FOR CONSTRUCTING WAYS OR
SERVICES TO GREATER WIDTH OD SIZE THAN REQUIRED
TO SERVE SUBDIVISION
Section 5 of chapter LO of the General Laws is
hereby amended by inserting after clause (52) ,
added by chapter 390 of the acts of 1958, the fol-
lowing clause :
(53) For the purpose of reimbursing a subdivider,
if authorized by a two-thirds vote, for. such Hart
of the cost of constructing ways or installing
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municipal services required by the planning board
under sections 81K to 81GG of chapter 41 as the
planning board recommends to compensate the subdi-
vider for constructing or installing ways or muni-
cipal services of a greater width or size than
would have been required to serve only the subdivi-
sion .
December 1, 1959 •
Mr William Maloney, Chairman
Board of Selectmen
Lexington 73, Mass .
Pear Mr. Maloney
At a meeting of the Annronriation Committee, held
November 30, 1°50, it was voted to transfer 11,200
from the Reserve Fund to the Planning Bo9rdpense
Account.
Very truly yours,
/s/ Edward A. Palmer, Secretary
EAP/j