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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1984-09-22PLANNING BOARD MINUTES MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 22, 1984 The meeting of the Lexington Planning Board, held at 4 Clematis Road, Lexington, was called to order at 9:23 a.m. by the Chairman, Mrs. Smith, with members Cripps, Flemings, Sorensen, Uhrig, and Planning Director Bowyer present. COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING, POLICIES 184. Comprehensive Plan: Mr. Bowyer had two examples of "policy plans" which are a model for the comprehensive plan for Lexington. They were the comprehensive plan adopted by the Wellesley Planning Board and the policy plan for Harvard Square adopted by the Harvard Square Development Task Force. Mrs. Flemings had several copies of elements, i.e., housing, transportation, economy, used in the comprehen- sive planning program in the City of Cambridge. Mr. Bowyer explained that, given the limited staff and financial resources available, the comprehensive plan in Lex- ington would have to be developed in stages (elements). Work is underway on the housing element, South Lexington and Lexington center. work is programmed but not started on a economic dgvelopment element. Other work will include a transporta- tion element, a community facilities element, and other area studies comparable to South Lexington. Various members commented that, at the current rate of progress, it would be a decade before a comprehensive plan could be finished and there needed to be ways to accelerate the process. One obvious way to speed up the process is to have more staff or funds available to retain consultants. Tactically, it is important to show products and results from current efforts if more money is to be requested. Mr. Bowyer suggested a different approach for some of the elements. The usual approach, and what has been done to date, is to conduct a study or analysis and to then formulate policies on the findings of the analysis. The best example is the housing element where there has been a thorough analysis, contained in the housing report, which will be followed by housing policies. The Housing Needs Advisory Committee is currently at work on this element. Another approach is to formulate policies first and then test them by analysis. He referred to this as a "hypothesis" plan which relies initially on "gut" feelings. It begins with the formulation of preliminary or tentative planning objectives which are then subject to analysis later. The advantages of that approach are: 1) a policy statement can be drafted without waiting for data collection and analysis, and 2) a policy plan usually reflects basic community attitudes which are not likely to be changed appreciably by data or analysis. 185. Commercial Development Element: Various members commented that after the passage of the floor area ratio limitation in the CR districts, they had received a number of comments about the need for a Town -wide approach to economic development. In particular, a number of people have advocated a floor area ratio limitation on the commercial districts in Hartwell Avenue -Bedford Street. The Board agreed that it should have a policy on commercial development. With the current staff work commitments, it was agreed to use the "hypothesis" plan approach and to develop some policies before conducting a detailed analysis. One task would be to look at the role or function of each of the commercial zoning districts, i.e., any district with a letter C in its abbreviation. The Zoning By -Law now has Planning Board Minutes: September 22, 1984 2 eight commercial districts and the original objective of some has been lost or com- promised. Reviewing the objectives of commercial zoning districts will focus think- ing on the role of commercial development in the town. It was agreed the Board should submit an article to the 1985 Town Meeting contain- ing floor area ratio controls for the commercial districts on Hartwell Avenue -Bed- ford Street. The traffic study recently completed by the Hanscom Area Traffic Study, with its gloomy forecasts of traffic congestion, is further evidence of the need for the Town to act quickly on the commercial development in North Lexington. 186. Pine Meadows Golf Course: There was discussion about different approaches to the Town's purchase of the Pine Meadows Golf Course. Some have advocated selling lots contained in a 39 -acre piece of Town -owned land acquired for school purposes or the six -acre piece owned by the Belizia family which is separate from the golf course. The sale of the lots is intended to raise money to offset some, much, or all of the Town's acquisition costs, depending upon the various proposals made. Others have urged the inclusion of affordable housing to meet some of the Town's housing objectives. The consensus of the Planning Board is that the preservation of open space is the primary objective to be achieved. The Planning Board is not c,�mmitted to complete self -funding in which all the Town's costs would be offset by the sale of land. The proceeds from the sale of some of the land might be used to defray part of the cost provided the new residential development resulting from the sale of the land does not have an adverse impact on the neighborhood or on the continuing operation of the golf course. ' 187. Selectmen's Goals: The Board reviewed the Selectmen's Goals and Objectives for the fiscal year 1985. In Item II a, Infrastructure Review, Unaccepted Streets, the Board thought that sidewalks and bicycle paths should be added to the process of developing criteria and policies for the construction of unaccepted streets. For Item III, Strategic Planning, which deals with "Lexington 2000," the Board was unclear what this was all about. The Board did not think it appropriate to set up a planning process that would duplicate the statutory and functional responsibility of the Planning Board for long range planning in Town government. The Board wants to know what Lexington 2000 is all about before it agrees to be involved. For Item VIII, Housing, the Board agreed that a meeting with the Board of Selectmen on efforts through zoning for affordable housing would be appropriate when a first draft of the housing policy and proposed zoning revisions for residential develop- ment are prepared. 188. Coordination with Board of Appeals: 'It was agreed to meet jointly with the Board of Appeals for a discussion of the Planning Board's paper on "Reasons, Guide- lines for Yard Setbacks," or on other subjects of mutual interest. 189. Planning Board Meetings: Mrs. Flemings questioned how much was being accom- plished for the amount of time invested in Planning Board meetings. It is a huge time commitment for a person to be a Planning Board member. All members agreed there should be fewer, shorter meetings with more attention devoted to policy and discussion rather than routine business. Other than agreement on the objective, there was not a consensus on the specific techniques for achieving it. It was Planning Board Minutes: September 22, 1984 3 agreed that all meetings should end by 10:30 p.m. Routine business such as subdi- visions and simple zoning matters, should not take more than 30 minutes. It was agreed to continue the 7:30 p.m. starting time for meetings although that is diffi- cult for some members. The meeting was adjourned at 12:03 p.m. Judith J. Uhg, Clerk L/ C 1