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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1985-02-04PLANNING BOARD MINUTES MEETING OF FEBRUARY 4, 1985 The meeting of the Lexington Planning Board, held in Room G-15, Town Offices, was called to order at 7:21 p.m. by the Chairman, Mrs. Smith, with members Cripps, Flemings and Planning Director Bowyer present. Mr. Sorensen and Mrs. Uhrig joined the meeting in progress. 32. Planning Board Budget for 1986 Fiscal Year The Board reviewed the alternative budgets, current effort and expanded effort, submitted by the Planning Department in November. Mr. Bowyer reported that Town Manager Hutchinson had recommended the current effort budget with the following changes: 1) the secretary position would be made full-time rather than having a part-time secretary and a part-time recording secretary to prepare minutes of meetings, 2) the Assistant Planner position would not be full-time but would continue at 24.5 hours on the department payroll, with additional money available in account 1090, Professional Services, to fund specific planning work such as the current arrangement for South Lexington. Mr. Bowyer commented that the amount of money is not significantly different; it appears in different accounts. At 7:30 p.m., the Planning Board recessed to meet with the Board of Selectmen in the Selectmen's meeting room to discuss the Planning Board budget. Mr. Sorensen and Mrs. Uhrig joined the meeting in the Selectmen's meeting room. In the joint meeting with the Board of Selectmen, Mrs. Smith said the amount of planning work to be done, particularly on the comprehensive plan, was such that an assistant planner would be needed full-time for the foreseeable future, at least five or six more years. It makes sense to have the position full-time in the Planning Board budget rather than annually obtaining supplementary funds from the professional services account. Mr. Hutchinson expressed concern that if there were budgetary cutbacks, it would be more difficult to reduce the hours of a full-time person than eliminating them from the professional services account and continuing the planner part-time. It was agreed by both the Planning Board and the Board of Selectmen to defer to another time the discussion of an expanded scope of planning work to accelerate progress on the comprehensive plan. At 8:05 p.m., the Planning Board left the meeting with the Board of Selectmen and reconvened in Room G-15. ARTICLES FOR 1985 TOWN MEETING 33. Article 15, Congregate living: Ephraim Weiss, sponsor of a citizens article to amend the existing congregate living provisions, was present and furnished the Planning Board with a copy of the language he will present at the public hearing. Mrs. Smith explained how the Planning Board proposed to handle congregate living as part of the planned residential development provision. Planning Board Minutes: February 4, 1985 2 34. Article 11, Planned Residential Development: Eleanor Klauminzer and David Kravetz of the Housing Needs Advisory Committee were present for the discussion. The Board continued its review of this article, working on the revision dated 1/31/85. In 9.2.10, it was agreed that for an RD district, rather than have the SPGA grant a series of exceptions to dimensional requirements, it would be better to have no requirement stated in Table 2 and the proposal evaluated on its merits by the Town Meeting. In 9.2.11, it was agreed to delete "four rooming units" as it can be confusing. In 9.3.2, it was agreed to delete the second paragraph which attempted to deal with the number of dwelling units more than 650 feet from a through street or interior drive. In 9.3.7, Usable Open Space, it was agreed to delete the references to use of the space of the roof of a building, balconies, indoor recreational facilities and the credit for land abutting public open space. In the revisions to Table 1, Use Regulations Schedule, it was agreed to delete the reference to dwellings in existence in March, 1985, as they referred primar- ily to the RM district and to rely on Section 6 of the By -Law, which allows non- conforming structures to be rebuilt. It was noted that dwelling units in commercial structures is a subject that needs ' further work, but it was agreed not to attempt it this year and to retain the existing provision which is applicable only in the CB district. In Section 3.6.1a, it was agreed to delete the reference to the use of the Town's photogrammetric maps in a preliminary site development plan. The Board continued its discussion about the criteria in 9.4.8. Mr. Sorensen restated his position that use of such criteria was subjective and an applicant could not predict the outcome of an application when non -numerical criteria are employed. 35. Board Members Responsibilities: It was agreed that the following members will be responsible for the articles listed: 10. Technical Corrections: Mrs. Flemings 14. Liquor Stores: Mr. Sorensen 15. Elevation of Parking Spaces: Mr. Cripps COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING. POLICIES 36. South Lexington Planning Program; Release of Technical Memoranda: The Board discussed whether to authorize the release of the individual technical memoranda prior to the completion of twelve memoranda. Mr. Sorensen and Mrs. Flemings advocated holding the memoranda until all are finished because of the iterative nature of the memoranda in which memoranda later in the series may supersede one Planning Board Minutes: February 4, 1985 3 earlier in the series. One member characterized them as like chapters in a book, which are not designed to be read separately. It was agreed that after the Planning Board's review, a few copies would be available in the office for inspection. A copy may be borrowed from the office but extensive reproduction or wide—spread distribution is not permitted. Those interested may view the individual memoranda but should be advised to wait until the whole series is finished before drawing any conclusions. The meeting was adjourned at 10:55 p.m. Judith J. Uh Clerk In L