Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001-12-05-PB-minPLANNING BOARD MINUTES MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2001 The meeting of the Lexington Planning Board held in the Selectmen's Room, Town Office Building, was called to order at 7:30 p.m. by Mr. Harden, with members, Chase, Davies, Kastorf and planning staff Garber, McCall- Taylor, Tap and Tyson present. Mr. Galaitsis was absent. ***** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** MINUTES ******* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** Review of Minutes The Board reviewed and corrected the minutes for the meetings of November 1 and 7, 2001.On the motion of Ms. Chase, seconded by Mr. Kastorf, it was voted unanimously to approve the minutes, as amended. * * * * * * * * * * ** ADMINISTRATION OF LAND DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS * * * * * * * * * * * ** (Mr. Davies stepped out of the room while the Board considered the consent agenda items of Marvin Street, Bird Hill Road, Barberry Road and Tower Road.) PLANS NOT REQUIRING APPROVAL UNDER THE SUBDIVISION CONTROL LAW Form A/01 -7 : The Board reviewed an Approval Not Required Plan for land at 9 Barberry Road. On the motion ofMr.Kastorf, seconded by Ms. Chase, the Board voted 3 -0 to endorse the plan entitled "Plan of Land in Lexington, MA (Middlesex County) ", dated October 12, 2001 prepared by Rober Survey, Inc., Arlington, MA, certified by Clifford E. Rober, Professional Land Surveyor, with Form A/01 -7, submitted by Thomas Fenn, applicant, as it does not require approval under the Subdivision Control Law. DETERMINATION OF GRADE AND CONSTRUCTION OF UNACCEPTED STREETS Tower Road Improvement, Kevin McIver, Waiver Request On a motion duly made and seconded, the Board voted unanimously to waive the requirement to construct the road before issuance of a building permit and to accept surety in the amount of a $41,750 bond. SUBDIVISION OF LAND Marvin Street, Approve Grant of Easements and donation of land to the Town On a motion duly made and seconded, the Board voted unanimously to approve the Grant of Easements and the donation of land, designated as a portion of lot 30 on Assessors map 90, to the Town. Bird Hill Road, Accept Covenant and Grant of Easements On a motion duly made and seconded, the Board voted unanimously to accept the covenant, dated November 7, 2001, and the Grant of Easements, dated November 7, 2001, for the Bird Hill Road subdivision. RECOMMENDATIONS ON APPLICATIONS TO THE BOARD OF APPEALS Mr. Davies gave an oral review of the following petitions, scheduled to be heard by the Board of Appeals on December 20, 2 00 1. ■ 121 Grove Street, special permit to construct a new accessory apartment in an accessory structure in the RO district (Mr. Harden removed himself from the discussion of this item.) ■ 28 James Street, variances to extend an existing, non - conforming driveway and to construct an addition to a dwelling ■ 8 Jackson Court, variance to construct addition to non - conforming dwelling ■ 28 Burlington Street, variance to construct an addition to a dwelling ■ 14 HarbeIl Street, variance to construct an addition to a dwelling and special permit to expand a non - conforming dwelling ■ 5 Wildwood Road, variance to construct a garage attached to a non - conforming dwelling ■ 10 Stedman Road, appealing a decision of the Zoning Officer that 10 Stedman Road is not a grandfathered, nonconforming buildable lot Minutes for the Meeting of December 5, 2001 2 The Board agreed to make no comments. SUBDIVISION OF LAND Walnut Street Presentation by the Applicant Present for this item were Mr. Jeffrey Nadherny, a partner of Walnut Roseland Properties, the applicant; Mr. Charles Fortran, the owner of the property; and Mr. Gary Larson of Larson Associates, landscape architect. There were 25 people in the audience. Mr. Larson presented a conceptual sketch plan showing a 33 -unit cluster subdivision on an I l -acre parcel of land in the RO, single- family zoning district off Walnut Street near the Waltham Town line. He described the site, which has an existing roadway leading to a large parking iot and six county hospital buildings that he characterized as dilapidated. The plan shows the use of the current entrance and roadway and three clusters of dwellings: one with 9 dwellings, one with I 1 dwellings, one with 13. The dwellings will have 2,100 -2,200 s.f. of living area and will house about 61 persons, most likely empty - nesters and young couples. A first floor bedroom/office space is planned. Traffic generated will be less than that allowed by the previous use on the site. They have made an effort to keep existing vegetation but come up a bit short on the usable open space requirement. Questions from the Board had to do with the adjacent Waltham land, emergency access to the site, and the issue of an affordable housing component in the project. Mr. Nadherny stated that they don't want to narrow their market too much but realize that the town needs affordable housing units. Other issues raised were about the grades, site coverage and the length of the road. Ms McCall - Taylor said that perhaps a through street will be necessary since the proposed road seems to mix a dead end with emergency access. The traffic issue was emphasized. Mr. Harden invited comment from the audience. Their comments and questions had to do with garages (two -car garages are planned), density, affordability, and the narrowness of Walnut Street (14 feet at its narrowest point). A resident of Waltham with an interest in open space expressed concern about traffic from the development and pointed out that one of the buildings to be razed is in Waltham. Mr. Frederick Merrill, a former planning board member, said some favorable words about the applicant. Mr. Harden and Mr. Kastorf summed up the Board's reaction as "mixed" and listed issues that need to be addressed, among them access from Waltham, affordable housing, traffic, density, and the extremely large building in the access road. Mr. Garber urged the applicant to consider public transportation links. Mr. Nadherny commented that they could always do a conventional subdivision. Scottish Glen Cluster Sketch Subdivision Plan, off Lowell Street, presentation by the applicant Present for this item were Mr. Ronald Wood, landscape architect, Mr. Malcolm McDowell, engineer and Mr. Andrew Schwab, applicant. There were eight people in the audience. Mr. Wood presented a sketch subdivision plan showing six dwelling units on land off Summer Street. An existing dwelling will be demolished. He said the site has a significant number of trees and is mostly gently sloped with one portion rather steep. Their preferred scheme has six units, 2 single- family and 4 attached around an "arrival court ". This will be a condominium arrangement with common open space. He listed the positive features as 1) small units; 2) reasonable prices; and 3) one -floor living in the duplexes, and characterized its village -like relationship to the Winship Common cluster development across Haskell Street. The drainage system mitigates the amount of site coverage. Comments from the Board had to do with density of the development and traffic. Mr. Garber said that in staff analyses the problems in the calculations are commented on, e.g. open space or impervious surface. This plan does not quite meet the spirit of open space required by the cluster by -law. In the case of Minutes for the Meeting of December 5, 2001 impervious surface, when a waiver is always requested from a given standard, it might indicate a need to look at the regulation itself to see if it needs to be adjusted. 3 Ms. Chase pointed out that Summer Street is very busy. Twelve additional cars from the development is not trivial. Mr. Davies questioned the house demolition but said the density of the development does not trouble him. Mr. Harden observed that each unit has four parking spaces, two in the garage and two in the driveway. He suggested that a ban on street parking be written into the condo documents. In response to Mr. Harden's query as to the public benefit in this development, Mr. Garber stated that the open space and the smaller dwelling units will serve. The Board indicated that the applicant could proceed to a preliminary submission but they would like to see less density and a design solution to the "landscape of garage doors ". REGIONAL, INTERTOWN ISSUES Met. State Hospital Site Reuse Mr. Garber reported that Waltham's legal counsel wants a series of legal actions to occur relative to the parkland. Lexington believes that this is too conservative as the timeliness of legal action is so uncertain. Mr. Kastorf observed that he sees Waltham's tactic as a way to keep open space on the site forever. Mr. Garber also reported that DCAM is considering locating a probate and juvenile court building at the Gaebler Center though it was never mentioned in the reuse plan. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 10:15 p.m. Sara B. Chase, Clerk