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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1986-02-18PLANNING BOARD MINUTES MEETING OF FEBRUARY 18, 1986 The meeting of the Lexington Planning Board, held in the auditorium of the Clarke Junior High School, was called to order at 7:45 p.m., by the Chairman, Mrs. Uhrig, with members Cripps, Smith, Sorensen, Wood, Planner Director Bowyer, Assistant Planner Rawski and Secretary Peters present. PUBLIC HEARING ON PROPOSED ZONING AMENDMENTS The Board conducted a public hearing as required by Chapter 40A, on the following proposed amendments to the Zoning By -Law: Article 47, RD, Waltham Street, Choate Symmes Article 49, RD, Waltham Street, Northgate The hearings were concluded at 9:43 p.m. The meeting was adjourned at 9:45 p.m. 1 Martha Wood, Clerk PLANNING BOARD MINUTES MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 19, 1986 The meeting of the Lexington Planning Board, held in Room G-15, Town Office Building, was called to order at 7:47 p.m. by the Vice -Chairman, Mr. Cripps, with members Smith, Sorensen, Wood, Planning Director Bowyer, Assistant Planner Rawski and Secretary Peters present. Mrs. Uhrig arrived at 7:50 p.m. 54. Approval of Minutes: On the motion of Mrs. Smith, seconded by Mr. Sorensen it was voted unanimously to approve the minutes of 1/22/86 and 1/29/86 as presented. 55. Katandin Woods: The Board discussed the letter dated February 21, 1986, from the Board of Selectmen to Mr. Taylor, Chairman of the Board of Appeals, and the draft version of the same letter they had seen previously, outlining the position of the Selectmen on the BIDC application for a comprehensive permit currently before the Board of Appeals. It was agreed that where the Board of Selectmen and the Planning Board concurred on proposed conditions, the Board would use wording as close as possible to that of the Selectmen so there would be one condition agreed to by both Boards. The Planning Board reviewed the 2/14/86 draft "Report on the Application for a Comprehensive Permit re: Boston Investment and Development Corporation Katandin Woods, Wood Street/Hartwell Ave", making editing changes for the most part. At ' the bottom of page 2, Mrs. Uhrig suggested adding the numerical standards from the Housing Element and explaining that these standards were based on a lower density and the Town Meeting approval process, which the applicants have by- passed. Mrs. Smith suggested and it was agreed to add explanations for those Planning Board conditions which differ from conditions in the Selectmen's report. Under "4. RENTALS" on page 4, the Board agreed to substitute a 2/3 vote for a majority as the vote required for the Town Meeting to approve conversion to condominiums, citing the Woodhaven rezoning proposal as the precedent in the comment. Under "7. TRAFFIC IMPACT, c." the Board agreed the developer should be required to construct a sidewalk along Wood Street in addition to his contribution of $25,000 for traffic and safety improvements. Mrs. Smith felt that the Signatron access should be for emergency use only. She objected to mixing residential and commercial traffic in an already heavily congested area. The Board asked the staff to consult with Conservation to prepare language agree- able to them on "9. FOOTPATH". It was agreed that the swimming pool should be deleted to enlarge the buffer area between the dwelling units and Signatron. Under "12. ADHERENCE TO PLANS", the Board agreed to add that no waivers would be granted unless they were specifically requested by the applicant. 1 1 Minutes for February 19, 1986 Page 2 The Board discussed whether a presentation of their report should be made before the Board of Appeals' hearing on February 27, 1986 in addition to their usual practice of filing a written report with the Board of Appeals. On the motion of Mrs. Smith, seconded by Mrs. Wood, it was voted unanimously to approve the 2/19/86 draft report as corrected, and request that the report be transmitted to the Board of Appeals by Friday, February 21, 1986. 56. Articles 47-50: Mr. Sorensen suggested the Board support an arrangement in which the Town Meeting agrees to take up the citizen articles (47-50) at a time specified in advance. He also suggested the Planning Board propose that the Planning Board articles (40-46) be taken up at any time, when convenient, and out of order if necessary to permit a full evening's business at a Town Meeting session. Article 47, Choate Symmes - the Board was generally in favor of this rezon- ing but felt more discussion was needed on the following questions: 1) is the density too high for the property?; 2) is the housing too expensive (would it be available to Lexington residents, and were they misrepresenting the return of the down payment)?; and 3) would they look into respite care, adult day care and other social programs needed by the town? Article 48, Northland - the Board agreed informally that they will support the rezoning if the applicant agrees to additional landscaping improvements and the installation of a traffic signal at the intersection of Lowell and North Streets. Article 49, Northgate - the Board agreed informally that they are unanimous- ly opposed to this rezoning. The inclusion of respite care and adult care programs in the proposal are good ideas, but the lack of frontage and a second access to the property make support by the Board impossible. Article 50, Grace Chapel - the Board agreed informally that they are unan- imously opposed to the rezoning of the property for office use, and suggest- ed that the applicant be so informed. That may avoid the need to prepare a Planning Board report. 57. Planning Board, Subcommittees: the next meeting of the Planning Board will be held on March 10, 1986, with the Housing beds Advisory Committee invited, to talk about the Choate Symmes housing issues. The meeting was adjourned at 10:55 p.m. Martha Wood, Clerk