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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1984-09-24PLANNING BOARD MINUTES MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 24, 1984 The meeting of the Lexington Planning Board, held in Room G-15, Town Offices, was called to order at 8:07 p.m. by the Chairman, Mrs. Smith, with members Cripps, Flemings, Sorensen, Uhrig and Planning Director Bowyer present. 190. APPROVAL OF MINUTES On the motion of Mr. Cripps, seconded by Mr. Sorensen, it was voted unanimously to approved the minutes of the meetings of March 31, April 2, April 4, April 7, April 9-10, and June 4 as written. PLANS NOT REQUIRING SUBDIVISION APPROVAL 191. 225 Waltham Street, Daniel McCabe, Form A-84/22: The Board reviewed a plan showing the property at 225 Waltham Street divided into two lots, one with 130.5 feet of frontage and 25,804 square feet of lot area, and the other with 137.83 feet of frontage and 35,828 square feet of area. The lot line is drawn so that the existing house and barn, which will be on two separate lots, comply with the side yard setback requirements. On the motion of Mr. Sorensen, seconded by Mr. Cripps, it was voted unanimously: The plan entitled "Compiled Subdivision Plan of Land in Lexington, Mass.," dated June 1, 1964, by Miller & Nylander Company, certified by Donald J. Forand, Registered Land Surveyor, with application Form A-84/22, by Daniel F. McCabe, does not require approval under the Subdivision Control Law. 192. APPLICATIONS TO THE BOARD OF APPEALS 7 Carmel Circle, Tien -Yu Tsui: Variance, garage: Mr. Cripps reported he had visited the site, the driveway is very steep and the topography of this site may meet the statutory tests to justify granting a variance. On the motion of Mr. Sorensen, seconded by Mrs. Uhrig, it was voted unanimously to recommend that the variance be granted because of the extraordinary topography of the lot which would justify placing the garage closer to the -street. The Board reviewed cases scheduled for hearings on October 11, 1984. On the motion of Mr. Cripps, seconded by Mrs. Uhrig, it was voted unanimously to make no recom- mendation on the following two cases: 39 Bedford Street, Hodgson Noyes Gulf: SP, various automotive uses: sign 92-100 Hayden Avenue, Boston Properties: SP, sign 396 Waltham Street, Mobil Oil: SP, sign: As part of the motion made by Mr. Soren- sen, seconded by Mrs. Uhrig, it was voted unanimously to recommend in favor in granting the special permit for this sign as it is a replacement and reduction in size of an existing sign. 364 Waltham Street, R. T. Fitzsimmons: SP, two-family dwelling: This property has a record of illegal construction, of a deck, and of illegal occupancy, a second dwelling unit on the lower floor. The lot area, 7,287 square feet, and the floor area 2,061 square feet, are too small to meet the standards, 10,000 square feet and Planning Board Minutes: September 24, 1984 2 2,500 square feet of net floor area respectively set by the Town Meeting for acces- sory apartments. This application is for a special permit to convert a single-fam- ily dwelling into a two-family dwelling. On the motion of Mrs. Uhrig, seconded by Mr. Sorensen, it was voted unanimously to oppose the granting of the special permit because 1) the Board is reluctant to recommend legitimizing illegal activity which has been an enforcement problem for the Building Commissioner, and 2) the lot and floor area is less than that required for an accessory apartment which should be a minimum standard, by comparability, for the conversion to a two-family dwelling. Hartwell Avenue, Alfred Tro eano: SPS, restaurant: Mrs. Smith reported that she had talked with Mr. Tropeano who assured her that the restaurant will not be open for breakfast and dinners will not be served until 6:00 p.m.. In that case, there would not be traffic impacts on the peak traffic hours. Mr. Sorensen commented that a restaurant on Hartwell Avenue, open in the noon hour, could be beneficial by reducing noon time traffic congestion and parking demands in Lexington center. It was agreed to recommend in favor of granting the special permit if the permit con- tained the condition that breakfast will not be served and that dinner will not be served before 6:00 p.m. 193. ITEK Expansion, 10 Maguire Road: A delegation of officials from the ITEK corporation, their attorney and consultants were present to show the Planning Board a revised plan for additions to the complex at 10 Maguire road. Paul Sullivan, the vice president for administration, said a new plan had been prepared which was different from the one the Planning Board reviewed in July. This plan reduces site coverage by 12,000 square feet, total square footage of gross floor area by 52,000 square feet and the number of personnel by 175. ITEK has eliminated some of the proposed office space and will lease space for office purposes in other buildings in the area. They will add 100 new employees who, along with 149 current employees, will be assigned to a 7:00 a.m..- 3:30 p.m. shift. Assigning employees to that shift and an expanded carpool program, should reduce the impact on peak hour traffic by 200 people. The height of the addition to the M wing, is reduced to 59 feet and that covers only about 40% of the addition. That is the minimum space needed for the special- ized optical test apparatus. Traffic engineer Richard Cook of BSC Engineering, outlined the effects of the new plan on traffic conditions in the area. He said that all the parking on site, including all existing parking, would be redesigned to be in complete compliance with the new parking layout and screening -landscaping requirements of the zoning By -Law. Attorney Steven Russian said that ITEK would withdraw the existing application and file a completely new one. He suggested that the Planning Board have at least a month to review this application and make its report to the Board of Appeals. ITEK does need to move forward promptly because some time has been lost because of the revision. Several Board members expressed appreciation for ITEK's willingness to completely revise their plan and produce a net reduction in traffic impact. Mrs. Smith thanked ITEK for the amount of effort they had made to comply with the Planning Board's thinking. Planning Board Minutes: September 24, 1984 0 3 REPORTS 194. Planning Board Members, Subcommittees a. Hanscom Area Traffic Study: Mrs. Uhrig said a meeting of the full Hanscom Field Traffic Committee was scheduled for October 2 to accept the report of the working committee and to decide on next steps. She had been involved in a briefing of the Board of Selectmen earlier in the evening; that Board looks forward to working with the Planning Board on this matter. b. Minuteman School Conference Center: Mrs. Uhrig reported that she and Mr. Cripps had attended a recent Advisory Committee meeting. She outlined for the Committee a number of Lexington's concerns which would have to be addressed in any presentation to the Lexington Town Meeting. The Advisory Committee voted 11-3 to recommend favorable action on the one proposal received. The 11 persons are all either connected to the school or the hospitality industry; the three negative votes included two community repre- sentatives from Lekington and one from Lincoln. C. Franklin School Conversion Committee: Mrs. Smith distributed a chart outlining the ten proposals received for the reuse of the Franklin School. The Committee has agreed not to consider any proposal that encroaches on the ball field. A round of interviews has been set for proposals still under consideration. d. Center Revitalization Committee: Mr. Sorensen reported the CRC had dis- cussed recommendations in Norman Abend's traffic report in order to decide on the Committee's recommendations to the Board of Selectmen. e. Pine Meadows Golf Course: Mrs. Smith reported the Selectmen's committee is considering an outright purchase of the golf course and several ideas about selling lots to obtain some or all of the cost of it. The Board agreed it was essential to keep the proposal simple if it was to obtain a two-thirds vote at the Town Meeting. On the motion of Mr. Sorensen, seconded by Mr. Cripps, it was voted unani- mously that the Planning Board go on record with the suggestion that the property be purchased with a lease back in the order of five years (to pro- vide time for the Town to figure out what to do with it); that, at the end of that time, some number, to be determined, of lots be sold off at market rate for market rate housing for single-family development in accordance with present zoning; to sell a minimum -number of lots to raise the maximum amount of money in order to pay for it; the number of lots being determined such that there be adequate facilities to support the lots including access over the roads; the objective of the minimum number of lots is to produce a mini- mal impact on the neighborhood. The number of lots shouldn't be stated prior to Town Meeting. Mrs. Smith suggested that land should be reserved to provide for a street connecting Cedar Street to the Reed Street neighborhood. The street needn't necessarily be built now but the land should be reserved. f. Board of Appeals Hearing: Mr. Sorensen reported on the Board of Appeals hearings on September 20, which included a decision to deny the Planning Planning Board Minutes: September 24, 1984 4 Board's appeal of the Building Commissioner's determination on the 4-6 Sherburne Road case. 195. Planning Director a. Congregate Housing, Europa Motors Property: Mr. Bowyer reported the staff had received a number of inquiries in the office and over the phone about the proposed development of congregate housing on the Europa Motors property at North and Lowell Streets. Most of the comments were negative with concern expressed about a "project" and a high density development. 196. EXECUTIVE SESSION It was voted unanimously, by poll of the Board, to go into Executive Session to discuss strategy with respect to litigation against the Town which, if discussed in an open session, may have a detrimental effect on the litigating position of the Town. At 9:57 p.m., the Board went into Executive Session, stating that it would return to open session only to adjourn. Following the Executive Session, the Board returned to Open Session at 10:50 p.m. The meeting was adjourned at 10:51 p.m. F� (laudith J. Uhrig, Clerk ��' PLANNING BOARD MINUTES EXECUTIVE SESSION: September 24, 1984 After a unanimous voted of the five members present, by poll of the Board, the Lex- ington Planning Board met in Executive Session in Room G-15, Town Offices, at 9:58 p.m. to discuss strategy with respect to litigation which, if discussed in open session, may have a detrimental effect on the litigating position of the Town. Present were Chairman Smith and members Cripps, Flemings, Sorensen, Uhrig and Planning Director Bowyer. Mr. Sorensen reported on the Board of Appeals' hearing, held on September 20, on the Planning Board's appeal of the Building Commissioner's determination on 4-6 Sherburne Road. Chairman Taylor of the Board of Appeals had asked Mr. Sorensen if the Planning Board would drop its original appeal on the issuance of the foundation permit. Mr. Sorensen responded he was not authorized to make that decision for the Board and didn't think the Board wanted to do it anyway. Mr. Sorensen reported on the reasons the members of the Board of Appeals gave for voting 1-4 not to approve the Planning Board's appeal. Mr. Gary and Mrs. Riffin thought the Town Counsel, had directed the Building Commissioner to issue the permit and, therefore, the Town Counsel determined that it was two lots. Mrs. Scigliano also implied the action had been approved by the Town Counsel. Mr. Taylor said the Planning Board's first appeal couldn't be approved because the time had expired. Mr. Turner essentially agreed with the Planning Board's position and was concerned about consistency with the guidelines for lot combination, which the Board of Appeals had applied in the Ward Street case. Mr. Sorensen observed that all mem- bers of the Board of Appeals appeared to agree that if the guidelines for lot combination were applied to this situation, they would have to determine that it was one lot. Most members of the Board of Appeals based their action on the Town Counsel's "opinion" but he hadn't given any written opinion. Mrs. Smith said that the Town has to work out a process to insure that this situa- tion cannot happen again. All parties have to sign on to the same set of criteria. It was agreed that the Planning Board would request to meet with the Board of Selectmen and the Board of Appeals in Executive Session next Monday, October 1, 1984. There was discussion on whether the Planning Board would ask for authoriza- tion from the Board of Selectmen to take an appeal from this decision to the courts. Mr. Sorensen urged prompt action because there is only 20 days allowed to take an appeal once the decision is filed. It was agreed to defer the question of whether to take an appeal to the courts until after the meeting with the Board of Selectmen next Monday. The Executive Session was adjourned at 10:50 p. and the Board returned to Open Session. v Judith J. UhIg, Clerk [1 LJ PLANNING BOARD MINUTES MEETING OF OCTOBER 1, 1984 The meeting of the Lexington called to order at 7:37 p.m. Sorensen, Uhrig and Planning the business meeting but was 197. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Planning Board, held in Room G-15, Town Offices, was by the Chairman, Mrs. Smith, with members Flemings, Director Bowyer present. Mr. Cripps was absent for present for the Executive Session. The minutes of the Executive Session of July 9 were corrected. On the motion of Mrs. Flemings, seconded by Mr. Cripps, it was voted 4-0 to approve the minutes of the meetings of June 18, July 9, July 16, August 13, August 27 and September 10, and the Executive Session of June 18, as written, and the minutes of the Executive Session of July 9 as amended. PLANS NOT REQUIRING SUBDIVISION APPROVAL 198. Form A-84/22, 225 Waltham Street, Daniel McCabe: Mr. Bowyer reported that attorneys had discovered the plan endorsed by the Planning Board on September 24 shows a right-of-way on an abutting parcel that no longer exists. On the motion of Mr. Sorensen, seconded by Mrs. Uhrig, it was voted 4-0 to authorize the removal from the plan of an eight -foot right-of-way on the land of Griscom, as that right- of-way has no effect on the frontage for the two lots which the Planning Board reviewed. 199. Executive Session It was voted 4-0, by poll of the members present, to go into Executive Session: 1) to consider the purchase, exchange or lease of real property, discussion of which in Open Session may have a detrimental effect on the negotiating position of the Town, and 2) to discuss strategy with respect to litigation which if discussed in Open Session, may have a detrimental effect on the litigating position of the Town. At 7:47 p.m., the Board went into Executive Session stating that it would return tc Open Session only to adjourn. Following the Executive Session, the Board returned to Open Session at 9:48 p.m. The meeting was adjourned at 9:49 p.m. Judith J. UhClerk