Thursday, December 18, 2014

Atkins North Delivers

134 Montague Road

The shopping experience at Atkins North, a proposed bookend satellite operation of an iconic South Amherst mainstay business, will be a tad more pleasurable -- not to mention safer -- thanks to the Amherst Planning Board, who voted unanimously last night to allow commercial use of the driveway at 134 Montague Road for deliveries.

 Amherst Planning Board 12/17/14

The Site Plan Review, Special Permit permission applies only to Atkins North and limits deliveries to smaller type vehicles (no 18 wheeler semi-trailer trucks), so it's not a carte blanche approval for all future businesses opening in The Mill District.

Those businesses will still have to come before either the Planning Board or Zoning Board of Appeals to get the same permission to use the more convenient access via Montague Road for commercial deliveries, something W.D. Cowls, the current owners, have done for centuries.

 Atkins estimates only 10 deliveries daily 

According to Planning Board Chair David Webber:  
This is a great example of two highly successful Amherst businesses, Cowls and Atkins, creating economic growth by providing much-needed services in North Amherst. Hopefully Atkins North will serve as an “anchor” tenant for further redevelopment of the Mill District. 
The Planning Board also voted (mostly) 6-1 to allow around a half-dozen Mill District commercial signs (some of them illuminated)  for the convenience of the general public being able to more easily find their destination. 

Cinda Jones President W.D. Cowls, Inc largest private landowner in Massachusetts

Mr.  Webber also pointed out the business signs may slow traffic as drivers will realized they are coming into a commercial zone and may watch more carefully for pedestrians and other vehicles entering or exiting the 12 acre emerging development.

Montague Road current traffic is 5,712 cars per day

As this is only the first step in the commercial revitalization of North Amherst, the former "dirty hands district."

 A not overly happy Louis Greenbaum

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hands are still dirty -- just a different kind of dirt on them...

Anonymous said...

If you run a blog and one of the options is to reply anonymously, do you have to call us names for choosing that option? Why not do away with anonymous as a choice. Get rid of it.

Larry Kelley said...

Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should, CAN.

If you want your (obviously strong) opinion to be taken seriously, you would stand behind what you say.

Anonymous said...

I agree - that's like offering to buy someone a drink and then chastising them for drinking. Take the feature away if you don't want anons posting.

Notice he never berates frequent posters like 'Squeaky Squeeks,' as if that were any less anonymous. Ed, on the other hand... well, we all know who HE is.

*Stupid handle, dumb posts

Who watches the Watchmen? said...

I think CAN 11:44 is referring to L. Greenbaum

Jackie M'Vemba said...

Not from around here. Clue me in please. What is CAN?

Larry Kelley said...

Cowardly Anon Nitwit.

It's a play on President Obama's campaign theme ("Yes we CAN") from 2008, which he stole from Bob The Builder.

Anonymous said...

Lol. Thx, Larry. I guess I'm one of those nitwits. Beats being a moonbat , i guess...

Anonymous said...

Any tenants for the new building on Cowls? It's a nice looking building as opposed to the downtown Arch projects.

Anonymous said...

2:55, I believe one of 3 Trolley Barn apartments is rented. They are doing the buildout for "Bread and Butter" a breakfast joint, and a salon on the ground floor.

Anonymous said...

Will the new Atkins joint differ from the S. Amherst one in the products sold?

Anonymous said...

The rhetoric gets inflated in Amherst in inverse proportionality to the importance of the issue.

So after awhile, we get numb to the blowhards.

Anonymous said...

Who's "they?" I don't know who you are. Though I have the feeling the whole of the OITROA blogosphere consists of the same 5 people commenting, re-commenting, arguing amonst ourselves endlessly. Okay I'll admit I could be wrong. There may be six of us.

Anonymous said...

S.S., your pseudo-Beat poetry is really tiresome and you contribute next to nothing to the conversation. If you've introduced yourself to LK in person, who cares? It's HERE where it's a liability to leave your name for Google to crawl and expose your opinions in all their weirdness. You're like everyone else here who posts anonymously - no more, no less.

Anonymous said...

expose your opinions in all their weirdness

S.S. has actual opinions? Who knew? She's like a six-year-old who hasn't the wit to come up with any remark or retort except "You're a poopyhead!" or "I know you are but what am I?"

Anonymous said...

I'm rubber and you're glue.

Dr. Evil said...

Yes, but also a link to some random and often racist youtube video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QH2-TGUlwu4

~ Squeaky Squawks ~

Anonymous said...

Commenters have a point, Squeaky does not make any relevant comments and nobody knows who he is either. So logic dictates Squeaky is the head CAN on this blog.

Anonymous said...

A show of hands, please: How many readers of this blog have ever followed one of Squawkie's YouTube links?

I didn't think so. But feel free to enjoy yourself that way, Scratchie, especially if it keeps you too busy to comment even more.

Daddy, why do you pretend so much? said...

"Yes, but also a link to some random and often racist youtube video."


LOL.


Say whatever you want about me,

as long as you spell the name

right.




Wishing you much success always,

-Squeaky Squeaks


p.s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xsXml73NuY

Anonymous said...

Free country. Do what you like, Squeak.

Anonymous said...

Say whatever you want about me, as long as you spell the name right.

I'll do my best, Stinky. Remind me: Is your maiden name spelled like the humorist's, or like the sax player's?

Please wont you be my neighbor? said...

"Free country. Do what you like, Squeak."


Thank you.


-Squeaky Squeaks

p.s. Christ almighty, Greenbaum fits right inta the god damn "NEHHH-borhood" doesn't he?

Electrifying.

(???)