Lexington Planning Board continues Militia Drive hearing to March amid design disputes

LEXINGTON -- January 15, 2025, Lexington Planning Board continued a major mixed-use hearing and clashed with citizens pushing to roll back MBTA Communities Act zoning in a meeting that ran past 11 p.m. The board voted 5-0 to push the public hearing for 3-4-5 Militia Drive, a 300-unit, two-building mixed-use project with an attached parking garage, to March 5, after architects and engineers presented revised plans that cut the east building from six to five stories, eliminated 19 units, and added three underground stormwater systems. Assistant Planning Director Megan McNamara flagged unresolved questions about whether the applicant can demonstrate the 30 percent commercial square footage threshold required for a 60-foot height bonus, noting a full-restaurant scenario would demand 96 commercial parking spaces. Separately, Town Meeting Member John Bartenstein and resident Carol Sasserdote presented a citizens' petition for special town meeting that would remove most of the town's village overlay districts while preserving 1,101 units already in the pipeline, citing EOHLC's certification of Lexington's as-of-right capacity at 12,546 units, roughly 10 times the statutory minimum. Board member Charles Hornig raised spot-zoning and MBTA compliance concerns, warning that a rejected amendment could cost the town state grants; the evening ended with board member Melanie Thompson volunteering to hold informal talks with petitioners before the February 12 public hearing. The board also accepted a $70,578.43 tripartite agreement with Dedham Savings Bank to release three lots at 75 Outlook Drive from a performance covenant.