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Home My WebLink About1964-11-30PLANNING BOARD MEETING ' November 30, 1964 A regular meeting of the Lexington Planning Board was held in its office, Town Office Building, on November 30, 1964. The meeting was called to order by Chairman Meyer at 8:00 p.m. with Members Riffin and Campbell, and Planning Director Zaleski present. Attorney Jameson met with the Board to discuss the pro- posed sale of 40 ft. wide strip of land by the B & M Railroad FORM A to Harry J. and Eva T. Palladino. Mr. Jameson explained the Palladino proposed sale, the strip to be used for access to Palladino land and asked for the reasons of the Board's refusal to en- Jackson dorse the plan previously submitted (see Forms A #64-59, #6h-12, . #64-43 #61-63). Mr. Meyer explained that the strip does not have the required frontage under the Zoning By -Law. Mr. William H. Sullivan met with the Board and presented a preliminary sketch dated Nov. 12, 1964 of a proposed subdivi- PROPOSED SUB. sion of land of Thyng and Oliveira. Mr. Meyer suggested and Mr. - Sullivan agreed to check with the owner of adjacent property to THYNG - OLIVEIRA the southwest (Rosins, Buss) regarding a joint subdivision of the land. Mr. Sullivan further asked the Board's opinion as to whether he could obtain a building permit on lot which will be- come Lot K in the Juniper Place Extension subdivision. The lot now has the required area and frontage and is created by deed rather than by plan. The Board could see no reason why the lot could not be built upon and suggested that "approval not re- quired" plan could be submitted to and endorsed by the Planning Board if required by the Building Inspector. Mrs. Morey met briefly with the Board to suggest that an access from the land of Lexington Historical Society to the pro- 'JACKSON EST. posed street in the Mark Moore subdivision off Hancock St. would be desirable and that it would be preferable if the lot in back MOREY of the Historical Society be developed by an individual who would appreciate its beauty and not by a developer. Mr. Ralph Hall next met with the Board and asked for com- ments on his proposed subdivision at the end of the existing BLOOMFIELD ST. unpaved portion of Bloomfield St. - a private way. The Board EXTENSION could make no specific recommendations until further inquiry into the status of Bloomfield St. and consultation with the HALL Town Engineer and Town Counsel. The definition of a "way" was discussed and Sec. 81Q Chapter hl of General Laws quoted. Mr. John J. Carroll, Town Engineer, came in at this time and sug- gested that there are precedents of having approved subdivi- sions off a private way (Sunnyknoll Terrace). Mr. William H. Sullivan met with the Board and presented a preliminary sketch dated Nov. 12, 1964 of a proposed subdivi- PROPOSED SUB. sion of land of Thyng and Oliveira. Mr. Meyer suggested and Mr. - Sullivan agreed to check with the owner of adjacent property to THYNG - OLIVEIRA the southwest (Rosins, Buss) regarding a joint subdivision of the land. Mr. Sullivan further asked the Board's opinion as to whether he could obtain a building permit on lot which will be- come Lot K in the Juniper Place Extension subdivision. The lot now has the required area and frontage and is created by deed rather than by plan. The Board could see no reason why the lot could not be built upon and suggested that "approval not re- quired" plan could be submitted to and endorsed by the Planning Board if required by the Building Inspector. 11-3o-64 -2- Mr. Jules Sussman met with the Board and discussed the FORM A plan submitted with Form A #64-60 entitled "Plan of Land in Lexington, Mass.", dated Oct. 16, 19643 by A. A. Miller and Town of Lex. Wilbur C. Nylander. Upon a motion duly made and seconded it was voted to endorse said plan as not requiring approval under the Subdivision Control Law with a notation "Lots B-2 and B-3 are not building lots under Lexington Zoning By -Law and are estab- lished solely for acquisition by the Town of Lexington for pub- lic purposes." Mr. Legro, Town Counsel, approved the wording of the above notice. The plan was then endorsed by members of the Board. 13LOONFIELD ST. Mr. Ralph Hall requested Mr. Legro's opinion on the status of Bloomfield St. and was told.that an examination of HALL pertinent legal facts would be necessary to establish whether the street was open to public use. Mr. Legro left at 9:45 P.M. The proposed subdivision of land of Mark Moore off JACKSON ESTATES Hancock St. (Jackson Estates) was discussed next. Mr. Sussman pointed out that Hr. Moore has previously given land to the MOORE-TODD REALTY- Town in the Burnham Farms subdivision and that the same could be.done in the Hancock St. area at the North Lexington brook. A letter from Roland B. Greeley, dated J4ov. 29, 1964, and recommending that a portion of the subdivision (Lot 6) be re- stricted for building until drainage situation is clarified, was read and made a part of the record. (See addenda.) .Mr. Meyer spoke in favor of an easement for drainage and flooding basin on Moore land and acquisition:of Busa and Tropeano land next to the Moore land and to Revere St. Mr. Sussman supported the acquisition of Busa and Tropeano land by eminent domain if no agreement can be reached and stressed the use of these lands as a link in a town -wide belt of open spaces and parks. Mr. Zaleski reported that Mr. Moore would like to name the proposed street "Brigham St. or Rd." even though there is a "paper street" of that nam off Coolidge Ave. It was decided to ad- vise Mr. Legro that the Planning Board would be,prepared to approve this subdivision subject to a drainage easement of 15 to 50 ft. width and a restriction of building and sale on Lot 6 until June 1965 if legally feasible. Read was a letter signed by a group of town meeting SMALL NON- members and residents requesting that the Zoning By -Law be CONFORMING amended by adopting Section 5-A of the Zoning Enabling Act and LOTS eliminating after 5 years small non -conforming lots. A dis- cussion followed and Mr. Meyer suggested that the Board will be in a better position to judge the effect of this once the land use map is completed. A request for release of lots on Emerson Rd. in "The , Grove Section One?? was discussed and it was unanimously 1 1 11-3o-64 NOTED: to release lots 26, 273 28, and 29 Emerson Rd. sub- ject to conditions of the bond and agreement. Partial release was executed by members of the Board. The definitive subdivision plan entitled "Tillinghast Estates Section Two Lexington, Mass.", dated May 14, 1964, was approved by the Board subject to the condition that the owner, William H. Sullivan, construct streets and install municipal services in accordance with the terms and condi- tions stated in his "Application for the Approval of a.Defin- itive Subdivision Plan" (Form C) dated Sept. 8, 1964 and obligations as stated in the bond dated November 30, 1964 in the penal sum of $9,000.00. Minutes of the Selectmen's meeting of November 16, 1964 were read and placed on file. Planning Director's draft of a letter inviting planning consultants to discuss the long-range financial study for the Town was read and approved. -3- Items to be studied for the annual town meeting were discussed briefly and it was tentatively decided to consider the elimination of C 1 districts at 1775 House, Carriage House, and Laconia St. at Woburn St., the adoption of Zoning Enabling Act Section 5-A relative to small non-coziforming lots, changing the reference to 1950 zoning map in the by-law, and a further study of zoning restrictions in C 1, C 1.5, etc. districts. The meeting adjourned at 11:10 p.m. Obert E. Meyer Chairman Dear Bob: Unfortunately I shall be out of Tam the Mark Moore Jackson Estates Plan before be recorded as advocating the with -holding (at least), pending further study. THE GROVE SEC.1 GREENER & WHITER TILLINGHAST ESTATES SULLIVAN TOWN MEETING ARTICLES 1359 Mass. Ave. Lexington, Mass. Nov. 29, 1964 this week. If you discuss I return, I would like to of the release on Lot #6 I can't spell out the chapter and verse justifying such action in legal terms; but it goes something like this: 11-30-64 -4- 1) There is much evidence that most of Lot 6, and part of lot 5, constitute a "drainage way" for absorbing flood waters and allow- ing pondage of said waters during periods of high run-off. 2) There is some compelling evidence to the effect that the need for this drainage way or pondage area has become greater as development takes place upstream; and that the proposed subdivision will accen- tuate this need -- perhaps only slightly, but we have no real assur- ance that the effect will not be appreciable. 3) The Town Engineer testified at our hearing that he has not in- spected the area during time of heavy spring run-offs. Until he has done so, I contend we cannot know that the proposed development of, and building on, lot #6 would not have deleterious effect on the neighborhood. 4) There has been much contending that the condition of the brook needs to be improved. There is no satisfactory evidence to the con- trary. Until studies show that the brook can be improved without necessitating use of this lot for pondage, or a drainage way, we should protect the Townts interest by trhing to reserve the area. I do not think that reservation of the area is a fair inter- pretation of Section 81U of Chapter 41. I do think it is a fair interpretation of the discretionary powers available to the Board in ' enforcing Section IV B 2 of our present Subdivision Regulations -- although it would be clearer if we were acting under paragraph 6.4 of the proposed new regulations. Sincerely, /s/ Roland B. Greeley 1