The plan for 16 Clarke Street has many flaws:
- It will be massive, four stories, and not a style that fits within this neighborhood in THE BATTLE GREEN HISTORIC DISTRICT.
- This 51-foot-tall building, directly across from Belfry Hill and Cary Library (which is only 40 feet tall according to construction documents), will overwhelm everything around it — especially when mechanicals are added to the roof, making it even taller.
- This end of Clarke Street is too narrow (22 feet) for a parked car and two other cars passing each other. To get by now, one must stop and back up or pull onto the curb or at a curb-cut. And Clarke Street is the ONLY street that gets you to Cary Library’s parking lot. Traffic will obviously increase if this is built as a four-story residential building with 52 condo units plus retail. School buses cannot use either Clarke or Raymond Streets (even to pick up kindergartners!) because the streets are too narrow. Fire engines would have even greater challenges than they do now.
- It is in THE BATTLE GREEN HISTORIC DISTRICT. All of us should respect Lexington’s historic heritage, especially so close to Belfry Hill, the Green, Buckman Tavern and the Visitor’s Center. Isn’t this why we have an Historic District Commission? At 51 feet, this building will be seen from these sites and will loom over both Belfry Hill and Cary Library, as well as the entire area.
- Retail stores should NOT be INTRODUCED onto Clarke Street. Except for Cary Library, Clarke Street is a 100% residential street.
Cary Library is a 2 ½ story building. THIS building should be reduced to 2 ½ stories. If this is done, perhaps this proposal would not be so vehemently opposed. If the plan is changed to a 2 ½ story building with no retail, I would likely support it.
Please also consider that Lexington will soon be seeing well over 1,000 new housing units, and possibly many more, increasing traffic all over town. This means here, too.
SOMETHING MUST BE DONE.
All excellent points, I will remind everyone that the zoning requirements for these projects is ONE PARKING SPACE per unit, normally TWO spaces are required per unit in all other residential projects. I’m sure one can imagine the impact this will have on adjacent neighborhood parking.
This project is one of a few that can actually be stopped. HDC can simply say no to the demolition of the existing building, end of project ✅
But, unfortunately the current commission is pro modern development and does not promote the Historic character of our Colonial town.
Beverly, I appreciate your writing and share your concerns about this neighborhood. It is also heavily traveled by pedestrians, including Lexington High School students, nearby residents, and many others. Significantly increased traffic increases the likelihood of injuries.
Agree with the comments above. Although I am not against modest redevelopment close to town center, the town must factor in the traffic flow and absent proposals for these needed changes, I assume this has not been done. Assuming that widening Clarke St is unfeasible and undesirable, at the very least, parking at the curb must be eliminated from the vehicular entrance to this complex all the way to Mass Ave to allow proper two-way traffic along that stretch of Clarke. In addition, Clarke must be made one-way northbound beyond that point to require exiting traffic from the complex to return to Mass Ave. A light should be installed at Clarke and Mass Ave to allow an easy left turn from Clarke and a left onto Clarke (probably not enough room for another roundabout). With these changes, this redevelopment could be made less intrusive.