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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1982-10-18359 PLANNING BOARD MINUTES M.EETING OF OCTOBER 18, 1982 The meeting of the Lexington Planning Board, held in Room G-15, Town Offices, was called to order at 7:37 p.m. by the Chairman, Mrs. Smith, with members Nichols, Sandy, Sorensen, Uhrig, Planning Director Bowyer, Assistant Planner Arslan and Secretary Lorraine Salto present. 152. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The minutes of the meeting of October 4. 1982 were corrected and on a motion by Mrs. Nichols, seconded by Mrs. Uhrig, were approved unanimously as corrected. A�Att DETERMINATION OF PLANNING BOARD APPROVAL CV 153. Land at 405-411, Concord Avenue, Form A-82/8 a m ` The Board reviewed a plan showing the transfer of land, with no change in frontage, Q from Foresberg (411 Concord Avenue) to Turnquist (405 Concord Avenue), with the result that 5,481 square feet will be added to the Turnquist parcel. On the motion - of Mr. Sorensen,. seconded by Mr. Sandy, it was voted unanimously: The plan entitled "Pian of Land in Lexington, Mass., showing Parcel B to be transferred from land of Foresberg to Turnquist", dated October 1, 1982, by Malcolm P. McDowell, accompanying application Form A-82/8, executed by Frederick J. Conroy, attorney for Robert D. and Angela J. Foresberg, owner, does not require approval under the Subdivision Control Law. �- 154. Applications t the Board of Appeals 5 o The Board reviewed a staff analysis dated October 15, 1982, for cases to be heard by the Board of Appeals, on October 28, 1982. On the motion of Mr. Sorensen, seconded by Mr. Sandy, it was voted 4-0 to make no recommendation on 143 Reed Street, Carmella Braswell, SP, Accessory Use, except to note that the special permit should be granted under line 8.2 which is for accessory uses rather than under line 2.3 which is for principal uses. Mrs. Smith abstained because she contracts with Ms. Braswell for an answering service. On the motion of Mr. Sorensen, seconded by Mrs. Nichols, it was voted unanimously to , make no recommendation on the following cases: 5 Gleason Road, Dominic DeFranzo: Variance, yard 3 Carriage Drive, Paul Vinger: Variance, yard The consensus of the Board was to make no recommendation on: 409 Mass. Avenue, Lexington Toyota: SP, addition but to recommend that before a special permit is granted for 409 Mass. Avenue, Lexington Toyota: SP, addition: the Board of Appeals- should confirm that any new illuminated signs will not infringe on the historic character of adjacent residential areas. Planning Board Meeting: 10/18/82' 3 321 158. HUD -Flood Insurance Districts: It was agreed that Mr. Sandy and Mrs. Nichols will review the letter and new map received recently from HUD, will coordinate with the Conservation Commission, and will report back to the Planning Board on next steps. 159. Accessory Apartments: The members of the Accessory Apartments Committee, ap- pointed by the Board of Selectmen, were present for a discussion of an analysis of their research and recommendations they intend to make. Committee member Margaret Rawls observed that one of the reasons for the failure of the two previous attempts to amend the Zoning By -Law to permit accessory apartments was the lack of an analysis of the number of housing units in the Town that would be affected. Her analysis showed there -were -about 8500 single family homes in the town. If a threshold of 2000 LO square feet of living area were established as a prerequisite for an accessory apart- ment, then 2290 housing units in Town would qualify. If the threshold were reduced '.� to 1500 square feet of living area, an additional 2316 housing units would qualify. Q Members of the Planning Board agreed that, for the initial accessory apartment pro vision, the threshold should be 10,000 square feet of land area and 2000 square feet m of living area. Q The Committee advocates a process by which accessory apartments may be created by right, i.e., by issuance of a permit by the Building Commissioner rather than a spe- cial permit by the Board of Appeals. The Committee seeks to establish clear standards and to avoid neighborhood emotionalism as a factor in allowing accessory apartments. The Board questionedwhetherTown Meeting would authorize the Building Commissioner to issue such permits due, to the desire to have some opportunity for review. Site planning considerations may be a suitable subject for a special permit but not issues such as alleged traffic increases and effects on property values.. The Committee asked for assistance from the Planning Board in dealing with site con- siderations such as the location and screening of additional parking spaces and the -use of side yards for either entrances, additions or parking. There was considerable discussion on how to handle existing accessory apartments, some of which may be illegal. The consensus of the Planning Board was that if an accessory apartment appeared on the records of the 1961 valuation survey conducted by the Board of Assessors, then it should be presumed to be a pre-existing, non -conform- ing apartment use. Accessory apartment units created since 1961 should not be allowed to continue unless either appropriate permits were issued by the Town or they meet the standards for the issuance of permits for new accessory apartments. The current setback requirements, i.e., fifteen feet for side yard and rear yard, should apply rather than the lesser setback requirements described in Section 7.4.1 of the Zoning By -Law. The Committee agreed it should clarify its objective in dealing with accessory apartments created after 1961 that would not qualify under the proposed ' standards. ! There was also discussion of what should be the maximum size for accessory apart- ments, both in terms of absolute square footage for the apartment and as a percentage of the total square footage of the structure. That item will be researched further. It was agreed that as part of an accessory apartments amendment package, some action should be taken on clarifying the distinction among roomers, boarders, and accessory apartments, with some attention to the parking requirements for each. Requiring some form of registration for roomers and boarding house units, so that all types of ac- cessory housing arrangements will be recorded with the Town, will be investigated. f, Planning Board Meeting: 10/18/82 ' 2 323 SUBDIVISION OF LAND 155. Simonds Estates, Naming of Streets: The Board discussed a memorandum from Fire Chief John Bergeron, dated 9/29/82, commenting on potential'confusion of Tidd Circle with Todd Road and Mead Circle with Read Street. It was agreed that the full name of the men being memorialized should be used so that the streets in the subdivision would be Benjamin Tidd Circle and Abner Mead Circle. If the Fire Chief finds either of those unsatisfactory, it was agreed that the name Bull Meadow Lane would be sug- gested. COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING, POLICIES O 156. Zoning Map: Printing Practices: Ms. Arslan and Mr. Bowyer reviewed a'suggested (v format for a revised zoning map. Due to its extraordinary cost and projected reduc- tions in the Planning Department's expense budget, it will not be possible for the Department to bear the cost of printing the zoning map in color. One alternative to m continue to print a colored zoning map is to set up a separate line item in the budget. Mr. Bowyer said the first responsibility of the zoning map is to permit the Q zoning district lines to be located; a town -wide map does not do this and a series of individual district maps are needed. A second function of the zoning map is to pro- vide a general impression of the location of all the districts is the Town and their relationship to each other. Ms. Arslan showed black and white zoning maps from severAl other communities and a suggested format for the revision of the zoning district maps. A revised zoning dis- trict map booklet would have an index of all streets in the Town and their status, more readable -_individual maps and an indexing system. Revision of the zoning dis- trict booklet is a long-term, multi-year project. Members raised questions about both the cost of printing and the staff time involved in preparing the different types of maps. Weighing the costs, staff time, and visual quality, the Board was not able to agree on which type of maps to prepare.' On the motion of Mr. Sorensen, seconded by Mr. Sandy, it was voted 4-1, with Mrs. Nichols in opposition, to lay the matter on the table. Mr. Sorensen suggested that a matrix be prepared showing the advantages and disadvantages of each type of map. Chairman Smith said she would speak with the Town Manager on the subject. 157. South Lexington Planning Program: Chairman Smith raised the possibility of arranging a meeting with the South Lexington Civic Association and Precinct 3 Town Meeting Members to give a status report on the South Lexington Planning Program. She had heard concerns in the area about "the direction" the Planning Board's work was taking. Mr. Bowyer commented that while citizen involvement is an important element in any planning process, the timing of that involvement was a consideration_ He said there are risks in having citizen meetings when the information to be presented is incomplete and basically inventory data. The risks are that people will jump to un- warranted conclusions, not understand the entire planning process, and not appreciate the time required to complete the planning process consistent with the staff time available. Mrs. Smith commented that there are risks in not having public meetings at this "stage. The risks include the idea that the Planning. Board is preparing "secret" plans and the generation of other unfounded rumors. It was agreed that the Board would conduct some type of public meeting in South Lexington. Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Uhrig will be responsible for planning the meeting. I Planning Board Meeting: 10/18/82 4 31 11) The Committee will be meeting with the Board of Appeals, the Board of Selectmen and the Building Commissioner for additional input and then will meet again with the Planning Board. P.E:PORTS 160. Planning Board Members, Subcommittees a. Route 2A-Hanscom Drive Intersection: Mrs. Smith reported that the Board of Selectmen had voted to recommend to MAPC that a full traffic analysis of Route 2A is needed before a decision is made on the installation of traffic signals at Hanscom Drive. -' L7rJ b. Meeting Schedule for November: It was agreed to meet on November 1 and 15, and to hold November 29 open if needed. A meeting is tentatively being scheduled by the Board of Selectmen for November 8 for a presentation of the findings of the household survey of Lexington center. Q The meeting was adjourned at 11:15 p.m. Judith J. Uhrdg, Clerk f