Lexington Planning Board approves Hartwell Avenue covenant, weighs subdivision rule overhaul

LEXINGTON -- September 10, 2025, Lexington Planning Board approves Hartwell Avenue subdivision covenant and begins review of first subdivision rule update since 2017. The board voted unanimously to accept a performance covenant for the three-lot commercial subdivision at 125 Hartwell Avenue, with a last-minute edit requiring planning board written approval before any single lot can be conveyed in an uncompleted subdivision, after Associate Member Michael Leon flagged language that deviated from the town's standard practice. A wide-ranging working session on draft amendments to the subdivision rules drew pushback from board member Charles Hornig on a proposal by Planning Director Abby McCabe to require a 10-foot buffer between any new subdivision right-of-way and an abutting lot line, with Hornig displaying three previously approved subdivisions that would have been impossible under the provision and warning it conflicted with the board's policy of encouraging roads near adjoining parcels. A proposed 150-foot minimum length for dead-end subdivision roads, prompted by a disapproved Mass Ave application this spring, drew broad support. A public hearing on the full package of changes is scheduled for September 25.