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Home My WebLink About1986-11-17PLANNING BOARD MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 17, 1986 The meeting of the Lexington Planning Board held in Room G-15, Town Office Building, was called to order at 7:37 P.M. by Vice -Chairman Cripps, with members Klauminzer, Sorensen, Wood, Planning Director Bowyer, Assistant Plan- ner Rawski and Secretary Peters present. Mrs. Uhrig was absent. 273 Regular Minutes and Executive Session Minutes for November 31 1986: The Board reviewed and corrected the minutes of the meeting of November 3, 1986. On the motion of Mrs. Klauminzer, seconded by Mr. Sorensen, it was voted unanimously to approve the minutes as corrected. The Board reviewed the minutes for the Executive Session of November 3, 1986. Mr. Sorensen moved the minutes be amended by deleting paragraphs 3, 4, and 5 and substituting new language. Martha Wood seconded the motion, and the Board voted 3-1-0 (Mr. Cripps voting in the negative) to adopt the amendment. On the motion of Mr. Sorensen, seconded by Mrs. Wood, it was voted unanimously to approve the minutes of the Executive Session as amended. ****************** ADMINISTRATION OF LAND DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS *********** PLANS NOT REQUIRING APPROVAL UNDER THE SUBDIVISION CONTROL LAW 274 Form A/86-26, Pheasant Brook Estates, Inc., Maple Street: The Board ' reviewed a plan showing the transfer of a portion of a lot from one lot to another, with both lots continuing to conform to the frontage and area re- quirements of the RO zoning district. On the motion of Mr. Sorensen, seconded by Mrs. Klauminzer, it was voted unanimously: to endorse the plan entitled "Plan of Land in Lexington, Mass." dated October 15, 1986, by T & M Engineering Associates, Inc., certified by Erland S. Townsend, Jr., Professional Land Surveyor, applicant Pheasant Brook Estates, Inc., with application Form A/86-26, as it does not re- quire approval under the Subdivision Control Law. SUBDIVISION OF LAND 275. Graystone Subdivision, Boyd -Smith: The Board reviewed an estimate of surety prepared by the Town Engineer, dated October 31 1986, for work remain- ing to be done on the subdivision. On the motion of Mr. Sorensen, seconded by Mrs. Wood, it was voted unanimously to approve a reduction in the amount of surety from $103,356.00 to $32,712.00 276. Grassland Street, Robert E. Phelan: On the motion of Mr. Sorensen, seconded by Mrs. Klauminzer, it was voted unamimously to approve the request of Robert E. Phelan to extend the time for action by the Board on the Grass- land Street Development until December 17, 1986. 277 Farmhurst V, Valleyfield Street, Robert E. Phelan: The Board reviewed a memo from the Town Engineer dated November 14, 1986 stating that $10,000 would be sufficient to complete the work at the Farmhurst Section 5 subdivision on Valleyfield Street. 1 Minutes of November 17, 1986 Page 2 J4 L On the motion of Mr. Sorensen, seconded by Mrs. Klauminzer, it was voted unanimously: 1) to set surety at $10,000, 2) to accept surety of $10,000 in the form of Bank Book #102-4587 from the Guaranty -First Trust Company and 3) to release lots 1 through 4 on the approved subdivision plan, which are respectively numbers 24, 21, 23 and 25 on Valleyfield Street. 278. Lowell Court Subdivision, off Lowell Street, Robert E. Phelan: Ms. Rawski reported the developer has made all changes required by the Certificate of Action prior to endorsement of the subdivision plan by the Board, and the 21 day period has expired with no appeal. On the motion of Mr. Sorensen, seconded by Mrs. Wood, it was voted unanimously to accept the covenant dated November 12, 1986 and to endorse the subdivision plans. 279. Sunset Ridge, off Buckman Drive: Ms. Rawski reported the geotechnical report and the estimate for the removal of additional ledge have been received from the developer. The Board reviewed a memo dated November 14, 1986, from the Town Engineer recommending surety for completion of Sunset Ridge subdivi- sion be set at $42,403. On the motion of Mr. Sorensen, seconded by Mrs. Wood, it was voted unanimously: 1) to set surety at $42,403, 2) to accept surety of $42,403 in the FORMANCE SECURED BY FUNDS RETAINED 1986 and countersigned by Peter G. Savings Bank,and form of a document entitled "PER - BY LENDER" dated November 17, Brown, VP, of the Lexington 3) to release lot number 181 on the approved subdivision plan. 280. Pheasant Brook, Section II, Kahn -Quinn: The Board reviewed a draft letter to Kahn -Quinn from the Board dated November 18, 1986 relative to a revised plan submitted to the Conservation Commission, which showed substan- tial changes from the definitive subdivision before the Planning Board. On the motion of Mr. Sorensen, seconded by Mrs. Wood, it was voted unanimously to approve the letter, as drafted. 281. Hill Street, Leonard J. Colwell: Mr. Colwell introduced Tony Casendino, architect, who presented sketch plans for four development options at 88 Hill Street. Mr. Casendino presented information on site vegetation (mostly beech trees), slopes (the roadway must pass through a portion of the site which has slopes in excess of 15%). and why they preferred using the cluster design (greater flexibility for siting of homes). He added, for marketing reasons, they had decided on seven single detached dwelling units, and for the purpose of preliminary planning, had used a 2,000 square foot footprint for each home. In response to questions, Mr. Casendino estimated the open space around the perimeter of the site as about 20 feet wide, and the lots in option C were between 12,000 and 14,000 square feet. Mr. Bowyer questioned the closeness of the homes to each other in the cluster plan. Mr. Casendino noted they felt the buyers would prefer to be distanced from the perimeter of the site at the expense of closer proximity to homes on the site. Mr. Bowyer said most cluster plans done previously had been in the Minutes of November 17, 1986 Page 3 RO district, where the minimum lot area is 30,000 square feet, and conforming to regulations in the RS district with all single family houses would be difficult. The Board preferred a conventional subdivision to the cluster plans presented by the developer since they did not see any public benefit gained from grant- ing the waivers that would be necessary for approval of this cluster plan. They agreed the homes were sited too close to each other, that the open space should be more significantly grouped and that the plans presented were not true cluster plans as described in the Zoning By -Law. They added sidewalks should be included in any plan, and urged the developer to consider reducing the number of buildings in the development if he is to attempt a conventional subdivision. *********************** ARTICLES FOR 1987 TOWN MEETING ********************* 282. 1985 100 Year Flood Plain/Parking Amendment: Mr. Bowyer reported the Conservation Commission is interested in preparing an amendment for the 1987 Town Meeting similar to the 1985 100 Year Flood Plain/Parking amendment that failed to receive the approval of the Attorney General after being voted at the 1985 Town Meeting. He pointed out the problems with drafting a zoning article that would create a floating zone having no set boundaries, or bound- aries set by a surveyor's action. ' The Board questioned the zoning justification for the amendment, i.e. why does the Conservation Commission wish to pursue this amendment. It was agreed that Mrs. Uhrig would contact David Williams to explore how and if the article should be drafted and whether this would be best handled under the Zoning By - Law or under the Wetlands Protection By -Law. 283. Lot Area and Setback Requirements for "Jumbo" Houses: Mr. Bowyer noted that lot area and frontage requirements in the Zoning By -Law for the Town's residential zones have not been revised since the early fifties, while the size of homes has been steadily increasing, adding that the Board might wish to consider whether revisions to the By -Laws that deal with this would be desirable. Mrs. Klauminzer commented that the size of the homes in the proposed Hill Street development present a good example of the need for a reexamination of these zoning requirements, and that the problem is intensified when homeowners wish to make additions to their properties. Mr. Sorensen noted the problem is also intensified with the addition of more paved driveways, and other imper- vious surfaces. The planning staff was asked to proceed with preparation of a draft article. ******************************** REPORTS *********************************** 284. Planning Board, Subcommittees: a. Board of Appeals: Mr. Cripps reported the Board of Appeals approved all the cases heard on November 13, 1986, including the Cotting School addition. 1 r� Minutes of November 17, 1986 Page 4 285. Planning Director a. Zoning Maps: Mr. Bowyer reported the Zoning Map has finally come back from the printers, done correctly, and Board members were presented with new 1"=600' scale zoning maps. He added there would be a few wall -sized maps for sale, by special order, to realtors, for example, and the ones for sale to the general public would be smaller, at a scale of 1"=1000' The meeting was adjourned at 9:56 P.M. Martha Wood, Clerk