HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-09-01-PB-minPLANNING BOARD MINUTES
MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 1, 2004
A regular meeting of the Lexington Planning Board held in the Selectmen's Meeting Room, Town Office
Building, was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Chairman Kastorf with members Davies, Galaitsis, Harden,
Manz and planning staff Garber, McCall - Taylor, and Tap present.
COMMENTS * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * **
Mr. Kastorf opened the meeting by allowing each of the Board members to offer some parting words to
Mr. Garber who will be leaving as Planning Director before the next scheduled meeting. Members were
laudatory in their remarks and wished Mr. Garber well in his new position.
****** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** MINUTES ****** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * **
Review of Minutes The Board reviewed the minutes for the meeting of March 17. It asked staff to verify
one item and bring them back for the next meeting
The Board reviewed and corrected the minutes for the meetings of March 24, June 9 and August 11,
2004. On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the minutes as amended.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** STAFF REPORTS
Two Part-time Planners Hired The Planning Department has gained two new part -time planners: Eve
Tapper, a permanent hire, and Karen Sobol, for an approximately six -month position. Both have degrees
in planning and professional experience in the field. The Board indicated its hope that the two will attend
some Board meetings.
Grandview Avenue 40B Application Mr. David Burns, DEBCO Properties, received a project eligibility
letter from the State for his 40B Comprehensive Permit proposal for land on Grandview Avenue and has
applied to the Board of Appeals. Ms. McCall - Taylor is applying on behalf of the Zoning Board of
Appeals (ZBA) for technical assistance grant to aid the ZBA in their review of the 40B application. Ms.
Judith Uhrig, chair of the ZBA, asked that the Planning Board send a representative to the initial hearing
on September 6 to represent the Planning Board's views.
REGIONAL, INTERTOWN ISSUES * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * **
Middlesex Coun ty Hos ital Site Dis osition of Parcel One: Mr. Garber reported that the Department of
Capital Asset Management (DCAM) may want to move faster than expected on selling Parcel One of the
former Middlesex County Hospital property, in view of the recent lucrative sale of Parcel 6, Mr. Garber
and Selectman Jeanne Krieger will be meeting with DCAM later in the week to discuss Lexington's hope
for a planning process to determine the use of the site.
Central Transportation Planning Staff ,CTPS Transit StudX Mr. Garber reported that CTPS would be
performing a study of the Trapelo Road area. It is part of a three town planning process focusing on
surplus state hospital developments.
* * * * * * * * * * ** ADMINISTRATION OF LAND DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS * * * * * * * * * * * **
DETERMINATION OF GRADE AND CONSTRUCTION OF UNACCEPTED STREETS
20 Estabrook Road Mrs. Alla Gordon: Mrs. Alla Gordon 2 Angier Road wishes to demolish and replace
the house she purchased at 20 Estabrook Road, which is on an unaccepted portion of the roadway. At its
meeting of August 11, 2004, the Planning Board had voted that the portion of Estabrook Road that serves
as frontage for 20 Estabrook, was not of adequate grade and construction but would be if certain
improvements were made. Ms. Gordon was back before the Board to ask that she be allowed to post
surety to cover the cost of the road improvements so that a building permit could be issued prior to the
Minutes for the Meeting of September 1, 2004 2
road work being completed. The Board voted to accept surety for the road construction costs in the
amount of $8,050.00 in a form to be determined by the Treasurer and the Planning Director.
BOARD OF APPEALS APPLICATIONS
Applications of note to be heard on September 9 2004 Ms. McCall- Taylor reported that Lincoln Labs
would present their plans for changes to their plant on Hanscom Air Base. They are not required to do so,
but they want the Town to be informed.
Mr. Kastorf recused himself and left the meeting at 8:00 p.m., as he is an abutter to the proposed Hazel
Road development.
SUBDIVISION OF LAND
Hazel Road Special Residential Development, Ronald Lo ez Continued Public Hearin Mid -Term
Review Mr. Harden opened the continued public hearing on the Hazel Road Special Residential
Development at 8:00 p.m. Mr. Lopez, Mr. Harrington, Mr. Poravas and Mr. James and Mr. Dryden, the
development team were present. Landowner Mrs. Sharkey with her attorney Mr. McMahon., were also in
the audience.
The plans presented showed a number of changes responding to Board comments on July 28: one of the
two - family units is now a single- family making a total of eight units instead of nine; one of the units in
the remaining two family will have two - bedrooms instead of three and will be given to the Town for
affordable housing; the turnaround is bigger, per the Fire Department's request; there is a slight shift in
the layout. Mr. Dryden noted that the changes result in a 10 percent reduction in site coverage.
Responding to Board questions, Mr. Dryden indicated the following:
• Turnaround curbing will be Cape Cod style — sloped granite.
• Water runoff from the site cannot be connected to an existing drainage system thatdrains into an
different watershed.
■ Total runoff from the site will be reduced by the system as designed; Roof runoff would be
directed to the spreaders; that the system needs to be properly maintained
Addressing system maintenance concerns, Mr. Lopez and Mr. Harrington agreed that suitable language
would be incorporated into the homeowners' agreement and fiends for this purpose would appear as a line
item in the condominium association's budget.
Improvements to the intervening section of Hazel Road Ms. McCall- Taylor commented that the
developer is required to provide adequate access to the nearest public street and the unimproved section of
Hazel Road that would connect the subdivision's loop drive to the portion of Hazel Road which intersects
with Winter Street, does not meet town standards. Mr. Dryden noted that the Town engineering division
called only for a "caution" sign to be installed.
The Board indicated that some responsibility for maintenance, plowing and sanding should rest with the
homeowner association in order to keep the steep sections of the road clear, especially as neighbors had
said the street is sometimes not plowed on weekends now. While the Town currently plows most
unaccepted streets for public safety it may not always have the personnel to do this in a timely way, or at
all.
Further discussion had to do with the suitability of a cluster scheme for this property, considering the
density proposed, though Mr. Davies said that in his view a conventional subdivision would "do violence"
to the site, whereas a cluster allows development of the existing flat part. It was agreed that the formula in
the impacts worksheet to determine the potential number of residents in a development needs to be
amended.
Minutes for the Meeting of September 1, 2004
Direction to the Applicant Come back with a plan that is similar but which:
incorporates further improvements to the drainage system, per engineer Lawrence Hayes'
comments;
■ shows corrected calculations for the number of residents the dwelling units will likely generate;
■ provides a homeowners operation and maintenance plan for the drainage system; and
2 spells out what improvements will be made to the intervening section of Hazel Road and the
waivers being requested
Mr. Dryden disagreed with the concept of applying for waivers for the pre - existing conditions on the
offsite portion of Hazel Road,
At 9:30, Mr. Harden continued the hearing to Wednesday, September 21, 2004 at 7:45.
Johnson Farm Joseph Gelormini Minor Revision Re uest: Mr. Joseph Gelormini, the developer of the
Johnson Farm cluster subdivision off Bedford Street, was present to ask the Board to approve changes in
three units as a minor revision to the special permit. In the dwelling that contains units 2 and 3, the lot line
goes through one of the bedrooms. Mr. Gelormini said that to redesign the unit to compensate for it would
be possible, and noted that the resulting additional square feet of living space would still be below the
impact measure. Mr. Galaitsis said that the Board had recently turned someone else down when they
wanted to change a special permit for a cluster and he would have a problem in granting this one as a
result. He asked the applicant to leave the square footage of each unit the same. Mr. Davies commented
that if the units were sold as condominiums, without individual lots, this would not be a problem.
Mr. Johnson also wanted to change the unit on lot 14. The approved plan shows 21 -foot freestanding
chimney with two gables behind. He wanted to move the chimney and switch the location of the family
room and kitchen. This would result in increasing the square footage approximately 47 square feet. Mr.
Harden agreed that the square footage in clusters should be within the limits, but that there should be
some range to allow for tweaking a development as the design progressed. Mr. Davies said that 300
square feet seems a big discrepancy and asked if unit two couldn't be made smaller. He also made the
point that this was an unbuilt and unsold unit, which was not the same as coming back seeking changes in
a built unit. Mr. Garber pointed out that the development, even with the changes, would be well below
the maximum development impact measures. Mr. Harden agreed they were minor but did not want to
open Pandora's box. Mr. Davies indicated that he could allow the changes in units 2 and 3 as they were
the result of an architect's error, but not the change in 14. Ms. Manz said she did not see that allowing
only one change versus two would avoid setting a precedent. Mr. Garber said that the Zoning Bylaw does
not state a number. Mr. Davies made a motion, seconded by Ms. Manz to allow the changes requested in
units 2 and 3 as minor and to allow reworking of unit 14, staying within the current parameters. The vote
was 3 to 1, with Mr. Galaitsis voting in the negative.
* x x x x * * ** x ** x* x * * * * *x * ** REPORTS
Town Meeting Article 9 Mr. Garber reported that the Attorney General's office is reviewing the Town
Meeting vote on Brookhaven. The petition did not contain the words "to amend the code of Lexington"
so the Attorney General is pondering whether or not this is a zoning change. If is it not, it would not
come under the Attorney General's purview.
On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn the meeting at 10:20 p.m
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Wendy Mar z,),Clerk