Lexington Planning Board adopts zoning regulation amendments, approves Bedford Street subdivision

LEXINGTON -- July 16, 2025, Lexington Planning Board unanimously adopts zoning regulation amendments and approves a three-lot subdivision that freezes pre-override zoning on the nine-acre former Lexington Tennis Club site at 475 Bedford Street. Planning Director Abby McCabe guided the board through Chapter 176 revisions covering site plan review disapproval standards, a payment-in-lieu increase to $400 per square foot for small affordable housing developments, a new soil-restoration requirement for tree plantings, and an updated invasive plant prohibition tied to the Massachusetts prohibited plant list. Associate Member Michael Leon and Board Member Charles Hornig, who had negotiated clarifying language on disapproval grounds in advance of the meeting, persuaded the board to strike a proposed Census Bureau construction-cost index from the payment-in-lieu formula entirely, leaving staff discretion to use "other relevant sources." On Bedford Street, VHB engineer Dale Horsman presented on behalf of Pulte Homes New England, which is under purchase agreement for the site; the approval locks in pre-March 2025 zoning under MGL Chapter 40A, Section 6, with actual multifamily plans requiring a new public hearing. McCabe also disclosed the Select Board is weighing designating the Planning Board as the town's long-dormant condominium conversion board, a proposal Hornig called legally untenable given state law changes since the 1980s bylaw was written.