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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1984-09-10PLANNING BOARD MINUTES MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 10, 1984 The meeting of the Lexington Planning Board, held in Room G-15, Town Offices, was called to order at 7:39 p.m., by the Chairman, Mrs. Smith, with members Cripps, Flemings, Sorensen, Uhrig and Planning Director Bowyer present. DEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS 178. North Street -Lowell Street, Europa Motors Property, Congregate Housing: Attorney Stephen Russian, Amy Samoylenko, developer, and architects Darleen Powers and Leslie Moldow were present to discuss their plans for developing a congregate living facility on the Europa Motors property. Mr. Russian observed that Section 9.2, which allows congregate living by special permit, was among the least specific provisions of the Zoning By -Law. Practically the only standard is that there may not be more than 12 units per facility, but the term facility is not defined. They are proposing five facilities, of 12 units each, for a total of 60. Most of the parking will be in garages under the facility. In the absence of guidelines, they are attempting to make the development as compatible as possible in density, scale and appearance with the RO district in which the property is located. Development will be completely private with no federal or state funds. Mr. Bowyer observed that this was one of the residential development sections that would be overhauled in the omnibus residential revision to be submitted to the 1985 Town Meeting. A shortcoming of the congregate section, as well as the nursing home section, is that there are no standards for density. All that is required is a special permit whether the development has 25 units or 2500. His research with the Building Commissioner indicated the term facility probably was meant to apply to the conversion of existing houses and doesn't deal effectively with new ' development. Mr. Russian explained that part of the site was in a CG zoning district and that land was an important part of the acquisition cost. In view of the economics, that land will have to remain commercial but the developer will seek a commercial use as compatible as possible with the congregate development. Mrs. Smith said that the Planning Board was generally enthused about the provision of congregate housing as a social good but the Board still had to be concerned about the compatibility of a development, in density and scale, with a single family residential district. Several members expressed concern about the cost to occupants of living in a congregate facility. 179. Franklin School Conversion: Eleanor Klauminzer, acting chairman of the Hous- ing Needs Advisory Committee, was present to discuss a draft letter to be sent by the Housing Needs Advisory Committee to the Franklin School Conversion Committee. The letter advocates the conversion of the building for family -type affordable housing with an emphasis on rental rather than purchase. The Committee recommends a mix of below-market and market -rate rents and a mix in unit sizes from one bed- room to three bedrooms. The Planning Board's response was varied. Mr. Sorensen favored a repetition of the Muzzey model with affordable housing on an ownership basis; he would be in favor of the sale of the building. Mrs. Uhrig thought there should be a minimum intrusion on recreation land. There was general agreement among the Board about the desir- ability of retaining as much as possible of the land for recreation and open space purposes. There was some sympathy for rental housing. The Board thought it best Planning Board Minutes: September 10, 1984 2 to wait and see what the developer's proposals, due on September 14, had to offer before making a recommendation. The Board also reviewed a draft letter from the Housing Needs Advisory Committee to the Board of Selectmen outlining the results of the questionnaire administered to the 1984 Town Meeting Members. The Board thought the letter was a good summary and commended Mrs. Klauminzer for the work involved. 180. APPLICATIONS TO THE BOARD OF APPEALS The Board had further discussion of two cases to be heard by the Board of Appeals on September 13, 1984. 238 Wood Street, M.I.T. Lincoln Lab: SP, modular buildings: Attorney Henry Winslow and John Paddleford and Charles Fairlane of Lincoln Lab were present to explain the application for a special permit. Lincoln Lab is replacing trailers, used for office purposes, with modular units on permanent foundations. After some discussion of what exactly was being proposed, it appears that Lincoln Lab is producing a net reduction in the amount of floor space, by removing more trailers than there are new modular units being erected. It is the construction of the modular units in new locations that triggers the zoning application. There was some question whether a special permit was needed at all, but Mr. Fairlane said Lincoln Lab's application for a building permit was denied. Mr. Paddleford said that employment at Lincoln Lab was stable as they were under an Air Force mandate not to increase the number of personnel. Mrs. Smith said that one of the Planning Board's objectives was to increase the data base on employment and trip generation in the Hartwell Avenue area. Lincoln Lab agreed to provide data on the amount of floor space they occupy, the number of employees and the number of parking spaces. On the motion of Mr. Sorensen, seconded by Mr. Cripps, it was voted unanimously to make no recommendation on this case. 141 Spring Street, Raytheon: SPS, increase parking lot: Mr. Bowyer showed a new site plan showing the redesign of the parking lot to avoid encroachment on wet- lands. That plan would be acted upon by the Conservation Commission at its meeting on September 11. On the assumption that the Conservation Commission finds the revised plan acceptable, it was agreed the Planning Board would recommend in favor of granting the SPS. 7 Carmel Circle: Variance, garage: Mr. Cripps will look at the site and report to the Planning Board meeting on September 24 so that a recommendation can be made to the Board of Appeals hearing on September 27. 181. COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING, POLICIES Hanscom Area Traffic Study: The Board had reviewed the Executive Summary of the "Hanscom Area Traffic Study," dated July 1984, prepared by the Central Transporta- tion Staff. Mrs. Uhrig explained that this report represented the findings and recommendations of the Hanscom Area Traffic Subcommittee and is its report to the larger Hanscom Area Traffic Committee. Planning Board Minutes: September 10, 1984 3 One major objective of the study was to examine a "ring road" around Hanscom Field which had long been thought to be an important part of the solution to the traffic problems in the four communities. Mrs. Uhrig said the study concluded that the ring road does not accomplish that much. The growth of commercial development and of employment has been so great, and is projected to continue, that even if all the traffic improvements proposed were made, by 1995 the level of congestion would be comparable to the level of congestion that was experienced in 1983. The study points out the importance of the North Lexington traffic improvements proposed by the Town for Hartwell Avenue, Bedford Street and Maguire Road, and the upgrading of Route 2 west of Route 128 to expressway standards. As four of the five alternatives terminate the ring road on Hartwell Avenue, it is important that the North Lexington traffic improvements be carried out. A sobering finding is that the traffic demand in the Route 3 corridor is so great that whatever improvements are made along Routes 4-225 in Lexington and Bedford, which would offer relief to Bedford Street and the Great Road, would be offset by spillover traffic, filtering through Bedford seeking to avoid the Route 3 bottle- neck. That indicates that the Hartwell Avenue connector to Route 128 is not an alternative to the Bedford Street improvements, as some residents of North Lexington have suggested, but that both improvements are needed to deal with the projected volumes of traffic. Mr. Sorensen observed, and Mrs. Uhrig concurred, that while the report did not men- tion congestion along Route 128, that is already a serious problem which will only deteriorate in the face of the projected increases in employment and travel. Mr. Bowyer observed that while there might be a tendency to despair whether the pro- posed traffic improvements would really accomplish anything, the alternative of doing nothing would place even greater burdens on local streets in the four towns, many of which are not designed to accommodate large volumes of commercial traffic. Many of those streets are residential and deserve some protection. Mrs. Uhrig will report back to the Planning Board on what the Committee proposes as next steps. REPORTS 182. Planning Board Members, Subcommittees a. Minuteman School Conference Center: Mrs. Uhrig reported that members of the Advisory Committee had received a response from one developer to the hotel project request for proposal. Copies of the response were available for Plan- ning Board members. Her review indicated the proposal document was not very informative on either site planning or traffic considerations. She recommended that the Planning Board take no position at this time. Data of the type sub- mitted by developers for rezoning proposals is needed. 183. Planning Director a. Forten Property, off Concord Avenue: Mr. Bowyer reported that William Smith, of Boyd -Smith, had shown him a preliminary plan for a single family subdivision, of 5-6 dwellings, on the Forten property, off Concord Avenue near Waltham Street. Planning Board Minutes: September 10, 1984 4 b. Zoning Map: Mr. Bowyer reported that the Zoning Map was nearing comple- tion. The staff has undertaken an exhaustive review of unaccepted streets, paper rights-of-way, driveways and the like and had classified them into two lists: 1) unaccepted streets that appear on the Zoning Map and 2) other rights-of-way, drives, etc., that do not appear on the zoning map, with the reasons why. The linear distance of the unaccepted streets will be included in the list, which will be available in the Inspection Department and the Planning Department so that neither the public nor Town officials need to depend upon visual interpretation of the Zoning Map. The two lists will be reviewed by the Engineering Department and the Inspection Department and will come to the Planning Board in the near future for an official vote. Mrs. Smith suggested that former Planning Board members Frank Sandy and Laura Nichols review the lists as they were very knowledgeable about those streets. The meeting was adjourned at 10:00 p.m. i (_�Xdith J. Uh � , C erk /