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