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PLANNING BOARD MINUTES
MEETING OF FEBRUARY 24, 2021
Minutes of the Lexington Planning Board
Held on February 24, 2021, Virtual Meeting per Governor Baker’s Order at 7:01 pm
Present: Robert Creech, Chair; Robert Peters, Vice-Chair; Ginna Johnson, Clerk; Richard Canale; and Charles
Hornig. Also present was Amanda Loomis, Planning Director and Sheila Page, Assistant Planning Director.
Robert Creech, Chair, read the agenda into the record, introduced members of the Planning Board and Planning
Department Staff, and called the meeting to order on Wednesday, February 24, 2021.
Mr. Creech read the following statement relative to the recent outbreak of COVID-19.
Good evening. Consistent with Governor Baker's Executive Order of March 12, 2020, suspending specific
provisions of MGL. c. 30A, §18 due to the current State of Emergency in the Commonwealth due to the outbreak
of COVID-19, this meeting of the Lexington Planning Board is being conducted remotely. In-person attendance is
not permitted at this time.
Every effort will be made to ensure that the public can adequately access real-time proceedings via technological
means. In the event access cannot be provided, an audio or video recording of this meeting will be available for
review on the Town of Lexington website or through LexMedia as soon as possible after the meeting.
For this meeting, the Lexington Planning Board is convening by video conference via Zoom. Specific information
for remote participation by the public can be found on the Planning Office’s web page. Please note that this
meeting is being recorded.
At this time, I will provide a brief review of the meeting proceedings.
1. For each public hearing, the Planning Board will request a presentation from the Applicant or petitioner,
followed by an opportunity for the Planning Board to ask questions or provide comments. Then the floor
will be open for public comments.
2. All comments during public participation need to be limited to 2 minutes or less and must be respectful.
3. When the time comes for public participation, if you are dialing in, you may use *6 to mute or unmute
yourself and *9 to raise or lower your hand.
4. If at any time during the meeting you have a question, please use the Q&A feature, and staff will respond.
*****************************TOWN MEETING**********************************
Mr. Creech announced that this would be the last meeting for Ms. Ginna Johnson and Mr.
Richard Canale and thanked them for all their contributions to this Board. The following people
were present and thanked Mr. Canale and Ms. Johnson for their time serving the Town on the
Planning Board:
Mr. Matt Daggett, Ms. Tina McBride, Ms. Wendy Manz, Ms. Diane Pursley, Ms. Donna
Moultrup, Ms. Carol Kowalski, Mr. Michael Leon, Mr. Robert Peters, and Mr. Hornig all thanked
them both for all their years of service on the Planning Board and the contributions they each
made though their dedicated hard work which benefitted Lexington. Many of them shared some
of their experiences with both of them and wished them well. Mr. Creech read a letter from
Clarissa Rowe, chair of the Battle Road Scenic Byway Committee who was unable to attend and
Page 2 Minutes for the Meeting of February 24, 2021
thanked Mr. Canale and Ms. Johnson for their years of service to the Town. Mr. Canale thanked
everyone for their kind words. Ms. Johnson said that it was a joy to work with everyone and
thanked them for their wonderful words.
CONTINUED PUBLIC HEARINGS
Mr. Creech said that the Board needed to continue the public hearings to next week.
Mr. Canale said he had two general comments on Articles 44 and 45. He said that this
would be an interim zoning thing since we would still need to incorporate the housing
piece. He said 180 residential units would be acceptable on Bedford Street which was
half of what we would need and the balance of the units would be on Hartwell Avenue.
He hoped the Planning Board evaluated what was being passed this year and have the
balance of what needed to be done ready for next year and the real zoning piece would be
next year. He recommended that in the purpose section a statement should be added
explaining that the plan was to include a substantial number of housing units done by
right next year and this was only step two of a three step process.
Ms. Johnson said she trusted the Town and the process to do the best thing for all of us.
Mr. Peters asked if the public hearings would all be continued to next week and have the
new members weigh in on those proposals at that time.
Public Hearing: Article 40, Retaining Walls - Amend the Lexington Zoning Bylaw
to regulate retaining walls over four (4) feet in height.
Continued Public Hearing: Article 41Structures within Setbacks- Amend the
Lexington Zoning Bylaw to establish regulations for accessory structures (such as
sheds) of limited size and height to be located within a side or rear setback.
Continued Public Hearing: Article 39, Historic Preservation Incentives - Amend the
Lexington Zoning Bylaw to allow special permits for historical preservation under §
135-6.2 to allow for additional uses where necessary to preserve historical elements.
Continued Public Hearing: Article 42, Floodplain Management - Amend § 135-7.1
of the Lexington Zoning Bylaw to identify and designate a Community Floodplain
Administrator (FPA) per 44 CFR and FEMA.
Continued Public Hearing: Article 43, Technical Corrections - Amend the
Lexington Zoning Bylaw to correct internal references, remove unreferenced
definitions, reformat sections, modernize the language, and make other technical
corrections.
Continued Public Hearing: Article 45, Hartwell Innovation Park: Amend Zoning
Map to create a new Hartwell Innovation Park (HIP) Zoning and further amend the
Lexington Zoning Bylaw by adding new Special District Regulations, and amend
related zoning sections of the Zoning Bylaw, including the Table of Use;
Minutes for the Meeting of February 24, 2021 Page 3
Dimensional Controls; General Regulations; Site Plan Review; and associated
zoning amendments:
Continued Public Hearing: Article 44, Amend the Use and General Regulations
including Table 1, Permitted Uses and Development Standards; § 5.1 Off-street
Parking and Loading; §9.5, Site Plan Review; and §10, Definitions) and updates
from the 2020 Special Town Meeting (such as Short-Term Rentals and
requirements from the Attorney General review); or act any other manner in
relation thereto
Charles Hornig moved that the Planning Board continue the public hearings for
Articles 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45 to Wednesday, March 3, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. Robert
Peters seconded the motion. The Planning Board voted in favor of the motion 5-0-0
(Roll Call: Richard Canale – yes; Ginna Johnson – yes; Charles Hornig – yes; Robert
Peters – yes; Robert Creech – yes). MOTION PASSED
*************************BOARD ADMINISTRATION****************************
Board Member Updates:
Mr. Hornig said there was a MMLA zoom session today on the housing law. There will another
session by the MMA on Tuesday regarding housing choices.
Review of Meeting Minutes February 4, 2021:
Charles Hornig moved that the Planning Board vote to approve the minutes of the February 4,
2021 meeting minutes as distributed. Robert Peters seconded the motion. The Planning Board
voted in favor of the motion 5-0-0 (Roll call: Robert Peters – yes; Richard Canale – yes; Ginna
Johnson – yes; Charles Hornig – yes; Robert Creech - yes). MOTION PASSED
Robert Creech moved that the Planning Board adjourn the meeting of February 24, 2021.
Robert Peters seconded the motion. The Planning Board voted in favor of the motion 5-0-0
(Roll call: Robert Peters – yes; Richard Canale – yes; Ginna Johnson – yes; Charles Hornig –
yes; Robert Creech - yes). MOTION PASSED
Meeting adjourned at 7:49 p.m.
The following documents used at the meeting can be found on the Planning Board website in
Planning Board packets.
Town Meeting:
Draft Article 40- Retaining Walls, dated February 23, 2021 (1 page).
Draft Article 41 Structures in setbacks, dated February 10, 2021 (1 page).
Draft Article 39 Historic Preservation Incentives, dated February 19, 2021 (3 pages).
Draft Article 42 Floodplain Administrator, dated January 21, 2021 (1 page).
Ginna Johnson, Clerk of the Planning Board