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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1960-12-08 PUBLIC HEARING December 8, 1960 The Lexington Planning Board held a public hearing on Thursday, December 8, 1960 in Estabrook Hall, Cary Mem- orial Building, to consider a proposal to amend the Lex- ington Zoning By-law by changing certain land from an R 1 One Family Dwelling District to a C 3 Special Commercial District by adding at the end of Section 4, Geographical Descriptions of Districts (h) C 3 - Special commercial districts, the following new paragraph: 2. A district on the westerly side of Wood Street and abut- ting upon the Laurence G. Hanscom Field (Bedford Air- port ) , and bounded and described as follows : Beginning at a point in the westerly line of Wood Street, at land of the United States of America, thence running N 63° 34' 30" W by land of the United States of America, distant 348.63 feet to a point ; thence turning and running N 10 33 ' 40" W by land of the United States of America, distant 300.00 feet to a point ; thence running N 50 22' 30" E by land of the United States of America, distant 616.21 feet to a point in the westerly line of Wood Street ; thence turning and running by a curve to the right with a radius of 594.55 feet by the westerly line of Wood Street, distant 299.26 feet to a point ; thence running S 30° 24' 00" E by said westerly line of Wood Street, distant 267.61 feet to a point; thence running by a curve to the right with a radius of 474. 66 feet by said westerly line of Wood Street, distant 492 09 feet to a point; and thence running S 290 00 ' 00" W by said westerly line of Wood Street, distant 179.93 feet to the point of beginning. Present were Chairman Burnell, Members Grindle, Meyer and Soule, Planning Director Snow, and the secretary, Mrs Baker. Thirty-eight persons were also present . The Chairman opened the hearing at 7:50 p.m. by read- ing the notice as it had been sent to all property owners deemed to be affected and as it had appeared in the November 17 and 24, 1960 issues of the Lexington Minute-man. He then explained the procedure to be followed in conducting a hear- ing. Afterwards Mr. Burnell called upon Mr. George N. Hurd, Jr of Milton to present the rezoning proposal Mr Hurd introduced himself by stating that he was an attorney with law offices at 294 Washington Street, Boston and that he had been retained by Massachusetts Institute of II Technology to present their proposal. He also introduced Mr. Henry W. Fitzpatrick, Director of the Lincoln Laboratory, an N I T . facility, who would assist in answering any ques- tions about the proposal. Mr. Hurd then explained the sud- 1 12-q-60 -2- denness and great urgency with which the proposed project 11so vital to the national defense program had been presented to the Lincoln Laboratory by the U S. Air Force. He said that once M.I.T became qualified to undertake the pro- ject, it became necessary for the Institute to find more space as quickly and as close as possible to the Lincoln Laboratory. Mr. Hurd stated M I.T. had entered into a purchase and sales agreement to acquire the land of Father and Miss Marie Maguire adjacent to the Laboratory contin- gent upon the Institute being able to obtain from Lexington authority to use said Maguire land for the proposed project. Mr. Hurd then had projected a series of 12 slides illus- trating the proposal. Slides 1, 2, 3 Town map and aerial photographs showing location of Maguire land proposed for rezoning and relationship to adjacent land areas and ownerships Size and location of a building 80,000 sq. ft. in area shown on Maguire tract of about 7 .6 acres and proposed access points to Lincoln Lab- oratory and Hartwell Road. Building to be used for office and light experimental work and to be a single story in height . About 350 people to be employed therein including a professional staff of approximately 135. Based on pre- vious experience about leo of employees would live in Lex- ington. Slides L through 11 Various views of site as seen from residential prop- erties on opposite side of Wood Street. Slide 12 Artist ' s perspective drawing of what the proposed building would look like drawn at the same scale of view as that shown on Slide 11 as seen from Daudelin residence, 275 Wood Street The Chairman asked members of the Planning Board if they had any questions to ask about the proposal There being none, those present attending the hearing were invited to ask any question they might have in regard to the proposal Mr. Benjamin W. White of 18 Peacock Farm Road in- quired as to whether or not the Planning Board had any over- all plan for C 3 use in Lexington . He was told the Board did not have. Mr. George Grees of 221 Wood Street stated that he thought the MIT buildings already in existence looked like ''a technological junk heap" and asked that something be done 12-8-60 -3- to improve them aesthetically. He also stated that he had much trouble with silt washing from the MIT land to his driveway Mr. Fitzpatrick said he would view the situa- tion and go over the problem with Mr. Grees. Mr Walter C. Legsdin of 213 Wood Street stated that he lived opposite the Lincoln Laboratory guard station where the personnel were often so very noisy at night that it was difficult to sleep, where traffic was much too fast and where all sorts of debris was thrown about and blown into his yard He said he was protesting these conditions. Mr. Fitzpatrick replied that this was surely a problem con- cerning which he would welcome suggestions and about which he would be glad to talk to Mr. Legsdin . When asked if the guard station could not be moved further back Mr. Fitz- patrick replied that there was a possibility that the station might be removed entirely. He said that the traffic was a problem about which he did not know what to do. He said he thought most of it was of air base origin. Mr. Burnell suggested that the problem be considered by the police, the Public Works Department and the Board of Select- men. Mr. Donald B. Lindsay of 17 Wood Street said that he felt great concern about a residential district trying to cope with a "monster" and that he hoped everyone concerned would make an earnest endeavor to help with this problem and do something about it realistically to make it more tol- erable He stated that the inhabitants of Wood Street have difficulty in driving their cars out of their yards because of the heavy morning traffic, the speed of which is much too fast for school children who must use the road Mr. Fitz- patrick replied that he felt the best recourse for correct- ing this situation would be to plan a meeting with repre- sentatives of the Air Force base planning unit to see if something could be done about the matter. He added that in the planning stage there was being considered another access to Route 126 from the air base for the reason that the num- ber of personnel was becoming greater Mr . Fitzpatrick said the base personnel presently numbered about 7000 and the MIT personnel 1700 Mr Grees asked if the Lincoln Laboratory had a con- tract with the Air Force to construct the proposed building. Mr. Fitzpatrick replied that MIT did not . He said that the Institute would own the land but would lease it to a private concern who would build and own the proposed building and lease it to MIT Mr. Hurd commented that this was the quick- est and most intelligent way to make the building available for use by MIT He said that sometime the Air Force would take it but that in the meantime the Air Force would reimburse MIT for the lease while Lexington would receive tax revenue from the land and building 12-8-60 -4- When asked if any type of C 3 use would be permitted in the proposed building after MIT had no further need of it , Mr. Fitzpatrick replied that this was possible but that he thought the Air Force would take such action as necessary to have the building owned by the U S. government . Mrs . Daudelin of 275 Wood Street inquired as to what the plans were for the other side of Wood Street and what would happen to her property. She said that they had bought the property in 1938 and all through the war years had lived with the fear that their property would be taken at any time She stated that she did not wish to go through this again. Mr . Fitzpatrick replied that this situation must be expected in war-time but that he knew of no plans that would inter- fere with the use of land on the opposite side of Wood Street for residential purposes. Mr. John E. Harvey of 1 Constitution Road asked what would happen if the acceptance by the Town of this proposal was made contingent upon the Air Force solving the problem of access to Route 128. Mr. Fitzpatrick replied that it was impossible for the Federal government to act upon the prob- lem in the forseeable future He said he thought the town could be more effective in handling the matter There being no further questions Mr Burnell asked for a showing of hands of those in favor of the rezoning proposal. Sixteen persons wished to be recorded as being in favor and three opposed to the proposal. The hearing was declared closed at 8 45 p .m. PLANNING BOARD MEETING December 8, 1960 After the public hearing the Board adjourned to its office in the Town Office Building to hold a special meet- ing which began at 9:30 p.m. Chairman Burnell, members Grindle, Meyer and Soule, and Planning Director Snow were present Considered first was a letter dated December 5, 1960 MIDDLE from Eugene C. Roberts III requesting the Board to extend RIDGE the time within which it had to take final action on his SEC. 5 application for approval of the Middle Ridge Sec. 5 defini- - tive subdivision plan so that he might complete arrange- ROBERTS ments for filing a bond as a performance guarantee. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was unanimously l�-8_60 -5- VOTED- that pursuant to the written request from the applicant the time of approval of the definitive subdivision plan entitled "Middle Ridge Section Five Lexington, Mass . ", and dated August 31, 1960, be and hereby is extended to and includ- ing January 10, 1961. From 9 45 to 10 00 p.m. Mrs Ruth Morey, Chair- man of the Board of Selectmen, and Mr. Hurd, represent- ing MIT, met with the Board to discuss the Institute' s proposal as presented by Mr. Hurd. In answer to ques- tions from those present, Mr. Hurd outlined for the Board further details in regard to the background and arrqngements to acquire the Maguire land for the pro- posed project to be undertaken by MIT. In particular Mr. Hurd noted that U S Government peacetime takings by eminent domain expend as much as a year ' s time and that in this case MIT had to find some means of making land available for the particular project involved just as soon as possible In regard to the sales agreement entered into with the Maguires, Mr. Hurd said that Miss Maguire would be able to continue to live in her house on the premises during her lifetime. After Mrs . Morey and Mr. Hurd left the meeting the Board held a detailed discussion of the MIT pro- posal. It was a unanimous decision to recommend the asoption of the proposed amendment to the Zoning By- law as set forth under 2rticle 2 of the Warrant for the Special Town Meeting to be held on December 12, 1960 From notes which he took of the discussion Mr. Snow was asked to prepare for the Board a report on the public hearing regarding said proposed amendment. (See adden- dum. ) Levi G. Burnell, Chairman ADDENDUM REPORT OF THE LEXINGTON PLANNING BOARD ON THE AMENDMENT TO THE ZONING BYLAW PROPOSED BY ARTICLE 2 On December 8, 1960, at 7-45 p .m. the Planning Board held a public hearing on the proposal to amend the Lex- ington Zoning By-law set forth in Article 2 of the Warrant for the Special Town Meeting to be held on 1L-8-60 -6- December 12, 1960. Approximately 38 persons attended the hearing due notice of which was given according to law. At the close of the hearing an expression of opinion of those present showed 16 persons in favor and 3 persons opposed to the proposal as presented This proposal involves the rezoning of 7 .6 acres, more or less, of land from a residential (R 1 ) district to a special commercial (C 3) district. The land fronts for about 1,059 ft. on the westerly and southwesterly side of Wood Street and on the other sides by the Hanscom Field land occupied by the Lincoln Laboratory, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology facility. While owned by the Fed- eral Government the land occupied by the Lincoln Laboratory and related facilities is being used for offices and lab- oratories, uses particularly designated in the Lexington Zoning By-law under a (C 3) district . The land proposed for rezoning and the buildings thereon comprise the property which is numbered 290 Wood Street Father James and Miss Marie Maguire presently own this property. MIT has a purchase and sales agreement to ac- quire said property from the Maguires subject to the con- dition that approval is obtained from the Town that the land involved may be used by MIT for a vital national defence project . The Institute proposes to enter into an agreement wherein it leases a portion of the Maguire land to a private agency for the purpose of having it construct a building to house the project. MIT proposes in turn to lease the building from the agency. This arrangement is being made since it appears unlikely that the Federal Gov- ernment can act rapidly enough in the near future to take the Maguire land by eminent domain for an emergency pro- ject of the nature involved. In the meantime, however, the Town will be able to assess the property and derive the benefit of taxes therefrom. It is understood that a building for office and light ex- perimental work will be erected on the land, the building to cover a ground floor area of 80,000 square feet and have a staff of about 350 employees. Access to the land is to be provided by a road leading from the Lincoln Laboratory and from a second road adjacent to the Wood Street-Hartwell Avenue intersection. The Planning Board unanimously recommends the adoption of the amendment proposed under Article 2 . LEXINGTON PLANNING BOARD Levi G. Burnell, Chairman Thomas S. Grindle Irving H. Mabee Robert F. Meyer December 12, 1960 Richard H. Soule