HomeMy WebLinkAbout1962-03-241
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PL.AN'TTTTG BOARD M=, TYG
March 2h, 1962
At 2:00 p.m, on Saturday, March 24, 1962 the
Lexington Planning Bon,0 held a special meeting in
its office, Town Office Building. Present were
Chairman Grindle, members Bre.*son, Campbell, Mabee
and ?Meyer, and Planning Director Snow.
The Board prepared a final draft of an amended
motion in re'*ard to Article 68, said motion to be
presented at the adjourned town meeting; to be held on
March 26. The Board also prepared and adopted a re-
port on said Article 68. (See addendum.)
The meeting adjourned at 4:30 n.m.
Arthur E. Brvson,
Clerk
ADDF^TDL'M
REPORT OF LFXINGTOTT PLAN"TATG BO.APDON A.IFTIIDFPTTS TO
ZO"TTTTG BY -LA'•' " OPOSrD TTTTDTR ARTTCLE 68 OF WARRANT
FOR 1962 Arrr.TT,AL Tn•.,fiT TTrFTT'Tf3-
PLAN�TPTG
BOARD
REPORT FOR
A N'TTTA L
TOTrJRT Mr.rTPT7T
The Lexington Planning Board held a public hearing on
March 8,1.962 to consider the proposals to amend the Lexington
?oninm Bir -Law as set forth ;n Article 68 of the Warrant for the
1962 Annual Town °leetin5^. Approximately 100 persons attended
the heari_n�,, due notice of which was given accordinr, to law.
The important provisions incorporated Jr these pronosals
may be summarized as follows:
1. In C 3 - Special commercial districts, the permitted
uses are modified (TT)* and the yard regulations are revised.
(XXT through XXV.)
2. M 1 - Lir-ht manufacturin 7 districts are redesignated
as CIT 1 - Commercial and light manufacturing districts (VT)., the
nerm-Itted uses are modified (III) and the area, f rontar;e and
yard regulations are revised to make them generally comparable
:: Roman numerals refer to numbered nrorosals in Article 68.
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to those in C 3 di stricts (XII throurrh XV) . The area to be In -
eluded within the CM 1 district comprises all of the nresent
M 1 district plus additional land on the Bedford side of Ha,.
well Avenue (VIII).
3. A new district desi,Qnated CH 1 - Commercial and hotel
districts is established. (VII) in Nich the uses permitted in
C 3 districts and hotels or ^rotor hotels are permitted (IV).
The area, frontarre and 7rard regulations in CH 1 districts are
identical with those in C 3 districts extent that a 200 foot
set back from Bedford Street is required (XXVI). The area be-
tween the present M 1 district boundary and Bedford Street be-
tween Hartwell Avenue and Route 128 is desitrnated as a CH 1
district (IX).
4. Limited site control is established in C 3, CM 1 and
CH 1 districts with nroced-ures for the administration thereof
(V).
5. Height regulations it C 2 and C 3 districts are re-
vised and these revised regulations established in CM 1 and
CH 1 districts (XI).
6. "Hotels" as a use subiect to permission of the Board
of Appeals is eliminated from R 2, C 1, C 2 and T 1 districts
(X).
Subsequent to the public hearing, certain perfecting
changes have been incorporated in proposals II, V, XVIII and
XXIV as the result of noints raised at the heari.n7. These
changes involve a clarification of the scope of the function
of and the standard to be applied by the Board of Anneals in,
considering applications for finding and determination; a
provision making it clear that proposals are approved in the
event the Board of Appeals fails to take final action within
the designated neriod; and the clarification of building
separation requirements so that while buildings may be at
least 30 feet apart the7 may be connected by walks or passage-
ways.
The nronosals set forth in Article 68 are the result of
a continuing review by the Plannine Board of the zoning By-law.
The actual revision of the provisions relating*, to Special
commercial and light manufacturing districts was begun last
snring and since that time there has been frequent consulta-
tion between the Board and property owners in the areas in-
volved. The restrictions imnosed under these nronosals are
stricter than those applied in the hast. This will result in
increased land values and ensure a more desirable develonment
of'the commercial areas. Studies by the Urban Land Institute
show that there is a positive correlation between the use of
stronrr restrictions and the success of such districts. Cer-
tainly one of the reasons a firm locates within such. a els-
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trict is to acquire the nrntections which these zoning restric-
tions offer. As of the date of this report, the Board under-
stands that all of the maior nroperty owners in the areas n -
volved accent the nroposals set forth in the motion under
Article 68. It is of interest to note that even though the
standards have been raised, all of the recent construction in
C 3 and. PSI 1 districts such as Ra7rtheon3 Ttek and S7rstems De-
velonment Corporation, equal or exceed all of the new require-
ments. Tn other words, these buildinrrs could have been con-
structed without change rad the nronosed regulations been in
effect at the time.
In view of these greater restrictions, the ?Tanning
Board is nronosin.r the extension of the commercial districts in
the Hartwell Avenue area. At the present time, there are 246
acres within the Y 1 district of which 67-1/2 acres have been
acquired by the Town for use as a refuse disposal area. As this
disposal area is utilized for the sanitary fill of refuse, por-
tions will become available for Use for commercial purposes. The
additional land rronosed for CM 1 and CH 1 uses would enlarge
the commercial area in the vicinity of Hartwell Avenue by arnrox-
imatel57 01 acres, much of which could be put into immediate use.
In addition, as soon as the location of the nronosed direct
access road from Hanscom Field to Route 128 is definitely estab-
lished,the Board intends to recommend that the CM 1 district be
extended to the boundary of the road thereby addinr_r 11 acres or
more to the district. At such ti e, more than 349a Cres of land
In the Flartwell Avenue area will be zoned for commercial uses.
During the course of its study, the Board engaged a firm
of consultants -in nublic a.dmi_nistration and finance to make a
study of the comparative costs and revenues to the Town were the
Hartwell Avenue area to re develoned to the maximum extend. .-.rcer
the present zoning? regulations and under the nronosed zoning?
regulations. Tn summary, the report of this firm indicates con-
clusively that a higher net income to the Town can be expected
with the full develorment of the area under the nronosed zonirg
regulations with the costs, both capital and onerati.nrT, b eine
lower and. the revenues bei ng greater than would b e the case with
full develonment under existing zoning regulations.
The members of the Lexington planning Board unanimously
recommend that the nronosals under Article 68 be adonted.
LF'XTATGTOI? PLA7 T*'G BOApD
Thomas S. Grindle, Chairman
Arthur F. ^r -*son
Josenh A. Caompbell
Irvi n�- H. Mabee
Robert R. Meyer
larch 2b, 1°( 2