Lexington Town Meeting: Wednesday Session Preview

LEXINGTON, MA—Lexington Town Meeting rolls on Wednesday, and three significant zoning articles will take center stage.

Town Meeting will take up zoning articles 39, 40, and 41 as well as articles 32 and 33 Wednesday, and will vote on articles 5 and 15 time permitting according to Town Clerk Nathalie Rice.

This session of Town Meeting will be held at Lexington High School in the Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. 

During public hearings, Article 41 was the most hotly debated. Article 41 seeks to limit the gross floor area of homes in relation to lot size. Many residents supported and opposed this article, but the Planning Board unanimously approved the article.

A breakdown of the zoning articles follows

Article 41:

Article 41 seeks to amend the zoning bylaw in order to limit the gross floor area of one and two family dwellings. The amendment would limit gross floor area in relation to the overall size of the lot.

In its report on the article the Planning Board cited that recent trends of large and expensive housing makes Lexington more exclusionary. The report also cited that homeowners also believed that the value of their home would be diminished due to large homes "overpowering it.

At the meeting, some residents argued that these limitations would limit the ability to have comfortable living space, indoor parking and other amenities in the home. Residents also brought up imperfections in the assesor's database, among other concerns.

The Article 41 motion can be found here.

Article 39:

Zoning article 39 seeks to limit the height of one or two family dwellings located near lot lines. Residents voiced concerns to the town that they were overwhelmed with the height of nearby residential structures.

The amendment would require height limitations for owners seeking to build on narrow lots. The town received few comments at the Jan. 20 Public meeting, with additional comments of support coming via email afterwards.

View the proposed motion here.

Article 40:

Article 40 seeks to amend the zoning bylaw to help ease conditions and requirements for building accessory apartments. The standards for an accessory apartment will be changed to reflect the standards for one-family dwellings without an accessory apartments.

The Planning Board unanimously recommended the article for approval after their Feb. 24 meeting. Public feedback was generally in favor during the Feb. 3 meeting, according to the Planning Board.

The motion can be viewed here.