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PLANNING BOARD MINUTES
MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 1, 2010
A regular meeting of the Lexington Planning Board in the Selectmen’s Meeting Room, Town Office
Building was called to order at 7:35 p.m. by Vice Chairman Richard Canale, with members Wendy Manz,
Charles Hornig, Anthony Galaitsis, and planning staff Maryann McCall-Taylor, Aaron Henry, and Lori
Kaufman present. Greg Zurlo joined the meeting in progress.
****************************APPROVAL NOT REQUIRED*******************************
167 & 171 Grant Street, ANR:
On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, 4-0, to endorse the plan entitled “Plan of Land in
Lexington, MA”, dated July 21, 2010, prepared and certified by James R. Keenan, Professional Land
Surveyor, Winchester, MA, with Form A/2010-4, submitted by Carol A. Locke, the applicant, as it does
not require approval under the Subdivision Control Law.
*************************************MINUTES***************************************
On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, 4-0, to accept the minutes for July 28, 2010, as
corrected. Mr. Canale said that there was some confusion on the way he voted on Wachusetts Drive since
he was in favor of leaving the road as 16’ wide.
*************************HARTWELL AVENUE AREA STUDY***************************
Continued discussion of Board Action on consultant’s report:
The Board continued the discussion of their draft of the Transportation Mitigation Plan for the Hartwell
Avenue Transportation Management Overlay District.
Board Comments:
I. Parking and Transportation Demand Management Plan. (PTDM plan)
(1)(a) Add wording including any TMA or TMO, including any established by the Town.
(1)(b) Amortize the cost of parking spaces, assess the value and maintenance and come up
with a figure and give employees using other modes of transportation some kind of
compensation. There would need to be an established number to provide clarity. Jim
Gallagher from MAPC said that a few Towns have adopted a “parking cash out” plan.
Developers need more details to figure out the costs.
(1)(c) If a report for single occupancy vehicles (SOV) figures was not filed annually with the
Town the employer would pay they 100% of the base fee. There would be a waiver of fees
Page 2 Minutes for the Meeting of September 1, 2010
for achieving lower use of SOV by employees. Start with a rate higher then 80%. Get the
actual figures from Cubist and LTP. Change the wording to use incentives rather then
penalties.
Mr. Zurlo joined the meeting in progress.
(1)(d) Describe the demand management techniques that the applicant will utilize.
Requiring membership in a TMA or a Town initiated TMO to allow flexibility was acceptable. It was
important to let applicants know what would be the worst case scenario and requiring developers to
join a TMO and fund something without knowledge of how much it would cost could be an
impediment. Transportation Advisory Committee could provide structure and guidance to developers
and be a good source of information to help and provide a service to businesses instead of adding a
long list of requirements. A list is a good resource, but not with open-ended costs. Major funds for the
TMO would not be picked up by the developers, but rather mostly from the $5.00 mitigation fees.
There was discussion that there did not need to be another organization, but having the Town initiate
and being part of the TMO and then turning it over to developers could be beneficial. The monies for
a TMO would come from a grant or tax levies; if established could be more competitive with the
existing TMAs if it was subsidized. A straw poll was taken if a TMO should be established by the
Town. The vote was 3-2 (Ms. Manz and Mr. Hornig opposed). Keep the existing in section (E)
numbers in the plan for the purposes of the public hearing and get feedback from the public.
On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, 4-0-1, (Mr. Canale abstained until the Board
returned to the discussion of section E), to approve section I with the changes and revisions discussed
above.
J. Implementation
On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, 5-0, to accept Mr. Hornig’s version with the
following changes to section (J): add Engineering to Planning Staff to complete the PNF required to
initiate the TIP process. Add consider options for undergrounding utilities in the TMO-1 District. Go
to Town Meeting to establish a mitigation account, authorize a TMO and fund it, initiate a program
enhancement for TMO staffing, and review article 15 annually.
K. Voluntary participation in the TDM programs.
On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, 5-0, to accept Mr. Hornig’s version with the
Minutes for the Meeting of September 1, 2010 Page 3
following changes to section K: all voluntary participation would be encouraged and anyone in the
TMOD could participate.
L. Acknowledgement and supplemental information.
This would be just a note.
175-77 General Provisions (A) General Provisions should include that traffic counts will go up, but the
plan will mitigate those increased impacts. It was suggested that should go into section 175-78. In
Section (F) on page 6 add the following wording “and hope to get reimbursed”. Section (B) Waivers
submitted by Mr. Hornig was omitted and should be added.
On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, 2-1-2, (Mr. Galaitsis and Mr. Canale abstained) to
take the current draft of the document to public hearing subject to amendments and discussion tonight.
Mr. Galaitsis wanted to see the final document first and Mr. Canale was not ready to go forward since he
did not participate in most of the consensus and wanted to be heard. (It was confirmed after the meeting
that the motion failed since it did not receive three affirmative votes as required by the Planning Board’s
Rules and Regulation.)
The following documents used at the meeting can be found on file with the Planning Department:
1. Traffic Mitigation Plan for the Hartwell Avenue Transportation Management Overlay District,
Lexington, MA, submitted 7/2/10, by Tetra Tech Rizzo.
2. Draft dated August 26, 2010, of the Transportation Management Overlay District Plans. Edits
from Mr. Hornig, Mr. Galaitsis and Mr. Canale were included.
3. Statement from the Transportation Advisory Committee for the Planning Board concerning the
Hartwell Avenue Transportation Overlay District, dated August 31, 2010.
The meeting was recorded by Lexmedia.
On a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn the meeting at 11:05 p.m.
Anthony Galaitsis, Clerk