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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1985-10-07PLANNING BOARD MINUTES MINUTES OF OCTOBER 71 1985 The meeting of the Lexington Planning Board, held in Room G-15, was called to order at 7:42 by the Chairman, Mrs. Smith, with members Cripps, Flemings, Uhrig, Planning Director Bowyer, Assistant Planner Rawski and Secretary Peters present. Mr. Sorensen was absent. 217. Approval of Minutes On the motion of Mrs. Flemings, seconded by Mr. Cripps, it was voted unanimously to accept, as corrected, the minutes of September 23, 1985. *************** ADMINISTRATION OF LAND DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS ***************** 218. 2 Stevens Road, Richard A. VanWert, Form A-85/14: The Board reviewed a plan showing a change in the side lot line which would permit a proposed addition to the residence to meet the side yard setback requirement. The Board had questioned whether the lot would lose its non -conforming lot status if the side lot lines are changed, and requested an opinion from Town Counsel. Mr. Bowyer will hold the signed drawing for the Board until an opinion has been received. On the motion of Mr. Cripps, seconded by Mrs. Uhrig, it was voted unanimously: to endorse the plan entitled "Plan of Land Lexington, Mass." dated September 16, 1985 by Robert H. Dunning, professional land surveyor, with application form A-85/14 by Richard A. VanWert, as it does not require approval under the Subdivision Control Law. SUBDIVISION OF LAND 219. Toga Property, off Turning Mill Road; Preliminary Plan: Dr. and Mrs. Toga, with Richard Cook from BSC representing them, presented a three lot preliminary subdivision plan to the Board. They proposed that the third lot be either: 1) deeded to the Town as conservation land; or 2) held as a non -buildable lot. In return, the Board would be asked to waive subdivision regulations concerning the construction of the subdivision road, right-of-way width, width of paving, sur- face material of the road, drainage details, and side -walk construction. Mr. Cook added that the Togas wish to build only one house in addition to the exist- ing residence. Mrs. Uhrig asked why then submit a three lot subdivision application. Mr. Cook said if the applicants can not get the waivers they are requesting from the Planning Board, they need the third lot to pay for the subdivision road. Mrs. Smith suggested the applicant first settle the question of whether the third lot is a buildable lot, including a determination by the Conservation Commission, adding that the Board did not consider an easement over one lot to a second lot as access to that second lot. She also felt that it was extremely unlikely the Board would waive the paving of the street citing the problems already existing in Town with unpaved streets. Mrs. Flemings questioned the construction of a retaining wall on the property line. The Board will wait for the resolution of these questions. Ms. Rawski reminded the Board that the 60 day action period runs out on October 14, 1985, before the Minutes, October 7, 1985 Page 2 the next scheduled meeting of the Board. Mr. and Mrs. Toga orally requested an extension of the time period until Nov. 4, 1985, and said they would follow this with a letter requesting the time extension tomorrow. On the motion of Mr. Cripps, seconded by Mrs. Flemings, it was voted unanimously to grant the exten- sion of time to the applicant. 220. Jung Property,21 James Street; Preliminary Plan: Mr. Jung presented a dif- ferent plan to the Board than the plan which was submitted with the application and was reviewed by the staff. Ms. Rawski reported that the road would create an Irregularity in the existing street line, which is expressly forbidden by the Zoning By -Law and it is doubtful that 150 foot sideline offset from Wright Street could be maintained. Mrs. Smith pointed out that the Planning Board cannot waive the provisions of the Zoning By -Law. On the motion of Mrs. Flemings, seconded by Mrs. Uhrig, it was voted unanimously to disapprove: the plan entitled: "Figure 1 Preliminary Sketch for Subdivision Plan, Jung Subdivision Plan, 21 James Street, sheet 5 of 9", Kwi-yung Jung and Hee- sook Jung, applicants. 221. 188 Lowell Street, McNeil Associates: On the motion of Mr. Cripps, se- conded by Mrs. Uhrig it was voted unanimously to grant an extension of time until October 31, 1985, for action on the preliminary subdivision plan, as requested in their letter dated October 2, 1985. ' 222. Pheasant Brook, Revision to Site Plan: The developer requested permission to change the limit -of -work line on lots 52 and 53. On the motion of Mrs. Flem- ings, seconded by Mr. Cripps, it was voted unanimously to allow the revisions provided the disturbance does not go beyond the 200 foot contour line. ******************* ARTICLES FOR 1986 TOWN MEETING *************************** 223. 22 Muzzey Street, Dr. Daniel Yuill: Dr. Yuill explained that he was grant- ed a varience six months ago by the Board of Appeals permitting him to convert a one family home to a two family home. He has found the remodeling costs too high and is exploring the possibility of requesting the property be rezoned for office use. He reported that the building, of approximately 2500 sq. ft., is located between two professional buildings, and is one of three buildings out of the 14 buildings on Muzzey Street still used as residences. Being located between two parking lots does not make it a very attractive prospect for a two family home. He wanted to hear the Board's reaction to such a rezoning proposal. Mrs. Smith remarked that the Board was sorry to lose the proposed 2 family con- version. She felt that Town Meeting had spoken that the need for office space was not as great as the need for housing in that area. Mr. Cripps stated that there would be more opposition to a request for rezoning of the whole area to business use than there would be for a request for the conversion of one proper- ty. Mrs. Flemings agreed that it would be very difficult to get a rezoning of the area through Town Meeting, and stated that she would be against it. Mrs. Uhrig did not want to see the business center enlarged. An unofficial poll of the Board showed that the Board would probably unanimously oppose the rezoning if it came to Town Meeting for a vote. Minutes, October 7, 1985 Page 3 ************************* ZONING MAP ****************************************** 224. Unaccepted Streets to Appear on the Zoning Map; discussion: Mr. Bowyer reported the staff has received feed -back from within the Engineering Department and from former Planning Board member Frank Sandy who had been asked to share his knowledge of streets in town. Now the staff needs to hear comments from the Board before proceeding to a vote on the revision of the Zoning Map. Mrs. Smith was surprised at the number of streets that were still unaccepted by the Town. Mrs. Uhrig asked how just parts of streets are accepted. Mr. Bowyer commented it depends on what segments of streets meet Town standards, and if only part of a street is proposed to Town Meeting for acceptance, that is all that is voted. He noted that a lot of the unaccepted streets are old sub -divi- sion streets. Mrs. Flemings felt that condominium drives should be shown on the Zoning Map. Mr. Bowyer explained that the purpose of the Zoning Map is to show zoning infor- mation such as what streets provide frontage for a lot. One reason for not showing condominium drives is to confirm that they are not intended to be Town Streets, as represented in the rezoning action. 225. BIDC, Hartwell and Wood Street; finalize Planning Board Thoughts: Mrs. Smith thinks that the draft is ready for distribution to the Selectmen with a few revisions to the Introduction portion. In answer to a question from Mr. Cripps, Mr. Bowyer reported that the "time clock" begins when BIDC files with the Board ' of,Appeals, who then have 40 days to reach a decision; nothing has been filed yet. On the motion of Mr. Cripps, seconded by Mrs. Flemings it was voted unani- mously to approve the draft, with corrections, for circulation to the Selectmen and Town Counsel. ***************** ADMINISTRATION OF LAND DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS ************** 226. APPLICATIONS TO THE BOARD OF APPEALS Mrs. Flemings presesnted an oral review of the following cases before the Board of Appeals: Hearings of October 10, 1985 196 Woburn Street, David Modoono; SP, temporary use, transport service: Mr. Modoono is applying for a one year temporary permit. He hopes to relocate the business out of Town in that period. On the motion of Mr. Cripps, seconded by Mrs. Uhrig it was voted unanimously to make no comment on the application for a one year temporary permit. However if it comes back next year they will be opposed to granting the special permit. Hearings of October 24, 1985 2 Forbes Road, Honeywell; SPS, small addition: The applicant has applied for a permit to construct an 1,000 foot storage building for chemicals. They have all the permits from Town departments that are required. On the motion of Mr. Cripps, seconded by Mrs. Uhrig, it was voted unanimously to make no comment on the application. Minutes, October 7, 1985 Page 4 Hartwell Ave. - Maguire Road, Colangelo; variance, minimum lot area: The appli- cant is requesting a variance from the minimum lot area required in the CM, Manufacturing Research Park zone. The minimum required in that zone is 3 acres, and they have 2.24 acres. The Board agreed the Town should not grant variances of this type in an area with severe traffic problems. On the motion of Stephen Cripps, seconded by Mrs. Flemings, it was voted unanimously to recommend against the granting of the variance by the Board of Appeals. Hartwell Ave. - Maguire Road, Colangelo; SPS: Mr. Bowyer reported the special permit with site plan review application was incomplete and that he had said so in the interdepartmental review. He felt it was still not complete and should not have been advertised for a public hearing. Ms. Rawski presented a list of items missing from the application: approximate size of water service yard setback for parking lots from lot lines dimensions of drives and parking areas proposed drainage system site analysis map based on a field survey off street parking and loading plan as required by section 11.2.1 (a). no traffic plan to mitigate traffic problems at peak times. Mrs. Smith will discuss the incomplete submission with Mr. Taylor, Chairman of the Board of Appeals, and the Board's position that an incomplete submission should not be acted upon. The Board will discuss recommendations at their Octo- ber 21 meeting if the staff has received enough information in time to prepare a draft. 27 Muzzey Street, Kemm Realty Trust; use variance, office building: The applicant has applied for a use variance to convert the building from resi- dential to office use. Mrs. Flemings questioned the circulation around the building and noted that there was insufficient space for the number of parking spaces required by the Zoning By -Law. The Board felt that the application was really a case for rezoning action by the Town Meeting. They also felt there was no hardship proven as required to grant a variance. On the motion of Mrs. Uhrig, seconded by Mr. Cripps, it was voted unanimously to recommend against granting the variance. OTHER SUBDIVISION MATTERS 227. Ms. Rawski's Work on Current Subdivision proposals: Mr. Bowyer said Ms. Rawski has made some preliminary design investigations to see if other alternatives with better design than the submitted proposal,were feasible. McNeil - Castelli land: Ms. Rawski presented a sketch combining the two separate subdivision proposals into one neighborhood oriented street system. It would eliminate the access from Lowell Street, preventing "cut-throughs" from one arterial street (Lowell) to another (Maple). Mrs. Smith commented that the two proposals should be thought of together. Willow Ridge: The plan submitted probably works well, according to Ms. Rawski, but a cluster plan could be better. The cluster has the potential of giving the builder 3 additional dwelling units in exchange for his constructing a footpath to Bowman School. It might also eliminate the shallow lots that back up to Minutes, October 7, 1985 Page 5 Beaver Brook where there might be a temptation by homeowners to fill in the floodway to gain larger yards. Ridge Estates III: This is a difficult site; the road will be steep no matter how it is laid out, and perhaps require retaining walls. It was agreed the Board will hold a public hearing on November 4, 1985 at 8 p.m. in room G-15, Town Office Building. *********************** REPORTS 228. Planning Board, Subcommittees: a. Housing Needs Advisory Committee: Mrs. Flemings reported she attended the Housing Needs Advisory Committee meeting on October 2 with Mr. Ullian and Mr. Casper of BIDC. She said that BIDC had agreed to a twenty year vs. fourteen years (previously proposed) rental longevity and said that they would work with Lexhab. They were also agreeable to increasing the number of three bedroom units to 5 units. Mr. Ullian's next step is to come before the Planning Board. IMeeting adjourned at 10:19 P. M. i Step en Cripps, Clerk 1