Lexington, MA
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Planning Board
Meetings of the Planning Board are open to the public. MeetingWatch transcribes and analyzes every session.
Recent activity
Last meetings at a glance.
Community responsiveness
52%
↘ declining
16 addressed · 14 partial · 14 unaddressed
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13 analyzed, most recent first
Wednesday, June 24, 2026
80 Bedford Street multifamily project under MBTA Communities zoning — 31-unit apartment complex with four inclusionary units on a site relocating a historic home
Wednesday, June 10, 2026
Multifamily Housing Development (5 Piper Road & 16 Clark St) — Addition of approximately 90 new multifamily units to the town.
Wednesday, May 27, 2026
419 Merritt Road Multifamily Development — Nine-unit multifamily condominium development
Wednesday, May 13, 2026
The meeting involved high-stakes discussions regarding historic preservation, environmental protection, and significant residential density, with multiple items being continued to allow for heavy revisions.
Tuesday, April 28, 2026
Mixed-use and Residential Development (16 Clark St & 331 Concord Ave) — Significant increase in housing density and changes to the visual skyline/streetscape.
Thursday, April 16, 2026
While the board was unified, the meeting was marked by significant tension between the public's desire for discretionary oversight and the board's legal limitations.
Tuesday, April 7, 2026
475 Bedford Street Residential Development — Large-scale nine-acre multi-family development.
Wednesday, March 25, 2026
While procedural votes were unanimous, the meeting carried real tension: an off-agenda policy debate on a divisive housing fee exposed board-level ideological division and excluded the public from weighing in; a financially-motivated design regression on a high-profile development drew neighborhood opposition and even the Chair's skepticism; and multiple resident concerns about noise, bulk, and blasting were left unanswered pending a future meeting.
Wednesday, March 11, 2026
475 Bedford Street Residential Development — Large-scale multi-family development impacting local density, parking, and environmental resources.
Wednesday, February 25, 2026
The meeting had real but contained tensions: a significant agenda misdescription for the mosque project that limited public notice, a chair conflict of interest disclosure on a major development, a live neighbor dispute left unresolved by conditions, and pointed design criticism from the chair — none of which rose to open conflict, but collectively made this more than a routine administrative session.
Wednesday, February 4, 2026
This was a procedurally calm meeting with no public opposition, no split votes, and only one minor internal debate over zoning terminology that was resolved amicably before the unanimous vote.
Wednesday, January 21, 2026
The 475 Bedford Street hearing generated sustained tension across multiple dimensions — height perception, architectural quality, parking, noise, and affordability — with the Chair delivering a rare and pointed public rebuke of a developer's design, community members alleging a bait-and-switch on building height, and a separate trail funding debate exposing underlying concerns about community consultation, collectively making this a notably heated session despite unanimous votes.
Wednesday, January 7, 2026
Despite zero split votes, the meeting was genuinely contentious due to a board member's open rejection of a major housing program, a direct ideological clash over SRD screening, blunt criticism of state ADU preemption and the commercial surcharge, an aggravated transparency failure from extensive undisclosed substantive discussions, and the announcement of a key member's departure — all with no public present to hold the board accountable.
Board members
Current and former members. Click to view voting record.
Michael Schanbacher
Chair
100% attendance
36 votes
36Y
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Melanie Thompson
100% attendance
37 votes
37Y
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Tina McBride
78% attendance
27 votes
27Y
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Michael Leon
Associate Member
62% attendance
11 votes
11Y
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Lynn Jensen
100% attendance
3 votes
3Y
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+ 2 former members
In progress
Recent meetings being transcribed and analyzed, most recent first. Full reports publish here as they finish.
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WED15JULWednesday, July 15Meeting held — no recording available.No recording
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