When A Barn Is The View

134 Montague Road, North Amherst

View that is currently screened by historic barn

The post and beam barn situated between a historic old 1768 farmhouse and an about to be developed Mill District is indeed a notable fixture just on the outskirts of North Amherst Village Center.  And has been for well over 100 years.

The Amherst Historical Commission had no problem last night designating the barn a "significant structure," but they seem to agonize over the issuance of a one year demolition delay.  The vast majority of residents who attended the meeting had no such reservations, as they simply wanted the view maintained no matter what it cost W.D. Cowls.

Approximately 30% of Amherst's total land area is "permanently protected open space."  And over half the property in town is owned by tax-exempt institutions:  Amherst College, UMass and Hampshire College being the major players. 

Combine that with the well above average cost of our public schools and you have the top two reasons why Amherst has the areas highest property tax, which prices out the middle class.   

Only 10% of our tax base is commercial, so residential property is disproportionately relied upon to bring in tax revenues.  Saving this barn for one year only delays the process of turning that area into a "commercial" cash cow with the development of The Mill District.

In fact the Historical Commission placed a one year delay on the demolition of the the old Trolley Barn just across the street, and a few weeks after the expiration of that year it collapsed into a pile of timber.  Now that location is the site of a 12,000 square foot, multi-use building that will generate tens of thousands annually in property tax revenue.

 The Trolley Barn rising like a Phoenix from the ashes of a former trolley barn

In America, where property rights are paramount, the best way to ensure a neighbor doesn't do something you don't like to their property is to buy it.  Or move. 

Sorry, folks. Proposed student housing development (The Retreat) may be controversial but is NOT a #historic #preservation issue. Try again.
— CitizenWald (@CitizenWald) July 23, 2014

Interesting that many of the same folks who attended this meeting to advocate in behalf of ye old barn tried to get Town Meeting to buy the "development rights" to W.D. Cowls other property further to the east to stop "The Retreat" student housing development.

Historical Commission meeting sign in sheet

And these NIMBYs will be pushing for a North Amherst "Local Historic District," which will erode even further the rights of private landowners to spruce up their castle. 

Cinda Jones setting next meeting date with Historical Commission

Atkins North It Is!

Coming soon to a former cow barn near you:  Atkins Farms Country Market

After years of negotiations, and rumors, and a recent Internet petition that garnered over 350 signatures, the dream of bringing an iconic century old Amherst business anchored in the deep south part of town has now come true:

 Atkins Farms Country Market will open a 4,000 square foot bookend operation in the North Amherst Mill District -- twice as big as the Internet petition proposed operation would have been in the Trolley Barn.

Pauline Lannon (left) Cinda Jones (right) ink the deal

Atkins will be occupying the former cow barn (after extensive renovations of course) at 113 Cowls Road, and is expected to open in August of 2015. 

The store will certainly act as an anchor magnet to draw consumers to the sprawling North Amherst location that by then will be populated with many more service oriented businesses.  

12,000 square foot Trolley Barn, opening this September

14,400 square foot former sawmill, ready to rock once again

The Mill District from above

NIMBYs Noisy Distraction

 

172 State Street, North Amherst (under construction)

One of the advantages of ownership is not so much the ability to do whatever you want with your property -- especially in Amherst -- but certainly the 100% guaranteed right NOT to do something with it.

Like for instance, drilling into bedrock (not the town where the Flintstones resided).

 View from State Street (note soundproofing going up)

North Amherst residents around Puffer's Pond are in full attack mode targeting the renovations taking place at 172 State Street, where the new owners (who paid almost twice assessed value) are renovating both the house and barn across the street.


And yes it is a tad noisy, and probably dusty as well.  But once the work is done tranquility returns and the new and improved home will be paying considerably more in property taxes.

View from Mill Street

So if you really want to ensure nothing happens next door to you, then simply buy the property ... and do nothing with it.   Only don't use taxpayer money.

A Bridge Too Far

 Mill Street Bridge near Puffer's Pond, closed last year due to safety concerns

The Amherst Select Board heard a report this evening from Town Manager John Musante concerning the North Amherst Mill Street Bridge, closed last year by "emergency" order of the state after their inspectors discovered problems during a routine inspection six months prior to giving the town the close order.

Now suddenly they wish to put us on a "fast track" for possible renovation in 2017 (making you wonder how they would define "slow track").

The Town Manager seemed a tad timid about that and responded with a letter saying the town hired a consultant to do an engineering study to outline four possible options:  Simply keep it the way it is, closed to motor vehicles and allow only pedestrian and bicycles; replace it with an improved structure but limited to bikes and pedestrians only; rebuild a bit stronger but only for one lane of traffic; and finally, do a standard rebuild of a two lane bridge with 4' to 5' sidewalk. 

At the 6:30 Public Comment period retired UMass history professor Louis Greenbaum urged the Select Board to reopen the bridge ASAP.  During the Town Manager's report concerning the bridge Vince O'Connor presented the board with a petition urging the bridge be reopened to one-way vehicular traffic while the engineering study process is going on.

 

Some locals would like it to remain closed, keeping it a giant planter

The North Will Rise Again

Trolley Barn:  12,000 square feet 3 floors, mixed use (Kuhn Riddle Architects)

North Amherst is on economic roll these days with The Retreat a high end 190 or so unit student housing enclave finally starting to move forward, and last night's unveiling before the Conservation Commission of the new-and-improved Trolley Barn, a three story, 12,000 square foot, mixed use commercial building set where a trolley barn once stood.

Original Trolley Barn Cowles Road North Amherst, built 1897

And yes, a trolley barn is where you store a trolley (or two), long since vanished from the Amherst landscape. Well, except for those imitation ones in the downtown.

The 4,000 square foot first floor will be commercial/retail, and management is hoping to sign up a breakfast or coffee shop,  or Atkins Farm type operation -- something that helps to build community.

The other two floors will be residential although since Town Meeting shot down a zoning density tweak, the individual units will each be 2,000 square feet, fit for a Donald Trump.

Location, location, location

Since Town Meeting did pass zoning allowing for greater height the building was redesigned, removing dormers along the roof thus saving costs and providing more usable space.

North Amherst, because of its industrial past, was once dubbed the "Dirty hands district."

Cleaning up quite well in the modern era.  

 

Previous design with stricter height limits (Kuhn Riddle Architects)

 New banner Rt. 116 North Amherst

Many Bridges To Cross

 

Toppled Jersey barrier on Mill Street Bridge

Vandals -- rather strong ones -- managed to tip over this road block on one side of the Mill Street Bridge which has been closed for over a year now due to unsafe structural support.  I say strong because a Jersey barrier weighs a couple tons.    

 Barrier on southern end was undisturbed (maybe they were too tired)

According to DPW Chief Guilford Mooring town officials are "putting some options together and then there will be public discussion" about the future of the bridge.   

But the more time that passes the more likely it will stay closed forever, like the Woodside Avenue Bridge over the bike path that was totally replaced 13 years ago and then never allowed (by Select Board vote) to reopen to vehicular traffic.

Woodside Avenue bridge:  The bridge to nowhere

The Mill Street bridge is strategically located between State and Summer Streets and is perfectly parallel to the Puffer's Pond waterfall.

Puffer's Pond:  popular summer destination spot

Speed Jump

Country Road, take me home ... 

One of my sagacious readers who drives daily through North Amherst (not to be confused with the Historic Village of Cushman) wonders why the speed limit sign I photographed last month laying on its side in front of Watroba's, a victim of vandalism, has now been replaced with a new one at a much higher speed limit?



Turns out the DPW is now trying to replace signs with what the venerable Amherst Select Board actually approved, and way back when -- for this particular road -- it was 45 MPH.  But at some point that one was replaced, and the only one available at the time was a 30 MPH, so they went with it. 

The Select Board never actually voted 30 MPH thus the new one is now back to what apparently it always should have been,  45 MPH. Although the nearest sign facing the other direction is still 30 MPH.

Neighbors, however, who walk that stretch of road like the idea of 30 MPH a lot better than 45 MPH.  Or as Simon and Garfunkel once observed, "Slow down, you move to fast ..."

Much Needed Development Planned

Cowls woodland since 1888 

Up to 170 cottage style student housing units sheltering a total of 680 tenants could soon be developed in the Cushman Village Center near Amherst's number one employer and target demographic, the University of Massachusetts. 

Landmark Properties bills "The Retreat" as a "cluster conservation subdivision" that will "provide students with an award winning, high quality, highly amenitized lifestyle in their own community of single family and attached homes."

Map of proposed development (click to enlarge)

 
The 154 acre parcel is currently owned and manged by the W.D. Cowls company, the state's largest private landowner. The property is in Chapter 61 Forest Conservation.  As a result the wooded acreage is current valued at $67/acre or a little over $10,000. 

The Amherst Select Board will have to sign off on releasing the land from Chapter 61, and they have 120 days to implement a"right of first refusal".

Considering the $6.5 million purchase price, it's highly unlikely the town will buy it.  Amherst could, however, transfer the right of first refusal to another non-profit agency, such as the Kestrel Land Trust.  But again, at that price, hard to match.

If developed by a private entity the project would also pay Amherst hundreds of thousands in property taxes annually.  

Amherst currently has an exceedingly tight 3.5% vacancy rate and conversions of single family homes to student rooming houses have caused problems all over town.

A classic Catch 22:  any proposal to add student housing is met with NIMBY resistance for fear of it becoming a riotous Frat Row.  Because no dense developments have been constructed to match increasing enrollment at UMass, the penny ante developers have converted traditional single family homes to student housing with no professional management, a recipe for disaster.

Safe to say locals are already sharpening their pitchforks and soaking torches in gasoline.

Letter to abutters from developer

Preserve and Protect (self interest)

North Amherst Congregational Church (now under new management).

After narrow back-to-back victories sabotaging the attempted rezoning of North Amherst Village Center to encourage denser, smart growth through Form Based Zoning, the local NIMBYs -- who only need  one third plus one of antiquated Town Meeting to agree with them to block such proposals -- have come up with a new scheme, yet another hurdle for town officials and local developers: Declare the area a "historic district."

A recent article in Preservation Nation portrays the merry band as selfless neighbors fighting valiantly to protect their heritage against "future threats," presumably the evils of corporate greed.

But they fail to mention the lead architect of this gambit, Louis Greenbaum, is a major rental property owner of less-than-upscale housing, who stands to benefit by preventing any mixed-use development that increases the supply of Amherst rental housing.

Oldest saying in capitalism:  "When products compete, they get better."  And God knows, with the squeaky tight housing market in our little college town, home to a very large flagship University, we could use new housing developments to compete with the current supply of aging, expensive units.

Historical preservation, when used correctly, is an admirable, worthy endeavor.  Using it as a weapon against badly needed development is a travesty.

Meadow Street Mayhem

 Townhouse Quad.  

Glorious weather on a long holiday weekend spelled trouble for APD, reminiscent of the September 9 Meadow Street Riot, when the north end of campus erupted in crowd violence while town and UMass officials were busy handing out oatmeal cookies and schmoozing with students in the south end of campus.

Once again the nefarious north became the general location for out-of-control nuisance partying, with Meadow Street  again serving as ground zero.  This of course is reason #1 neighbors (over the age of 30) in the north oppose North Amherst Village Center rezoning, fearing incidents like this will only magnify exponentially.



Police first responded to Townhouse Apartments on Saturday afternoon around 2:30 PM for reports of a "party going on and a band setting up in the quad area." But the band was given a verbal warning and the officer noted, "Quad filling up with students but nothing out of control at this time."

At 3:15 PM police are called back by apartment security regarding "beer bottles that were thrown in his direction."  And at 6:00 PM, a female called wishing to press charges against a male student who drunkenly fell into her and chipped an incisor tooth.  She also reported being struck in the leg by a thrown beer bottle while at the Townhouse quad party.

About this same time apartment security reports "while walking by unit #20 he had bottles thrown at him that missed but hit and smashed the windshield of a black Audi."  At this point (6:14 PM) APD swoops in and shuts down the party, before the cover of darkness makes matters considerably worse.

According to police narrative:

1000+ and an unruly crowd, with numerous fights breaking out.  Apartment #24 refused to disburse and control their guests inside and out.  The apartment continued to party and refused to silence their music or clear the party.  Residents (4) issued Town Bylaw noise citations and then became hostile, puffing their chests up and surrounding officers 101 and 110 in an attempt to overpower them.  One party (Tyler Davidson) clenched his fists and charged.  Placed under arrest for Assault and Battery on a police officer.

Tyler Davidson, age 23.  Arrested for A+B on police officer, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct

Atkins North?

Atkins Country Market

Informed sources--a giant leap up from rumor--inform me that Atkins Country Market, a South Amherst destination spot founded in 1887 is, finally, considering expansion via an additional location: the 14,400 square foot former Cowls Sawmill building in North Amherst, hence the designation Atkins North.

Since the sawmill building was constructed in 2004, after the original burned down from a lightening strike, and was built to be wide open with town water/sewer and sprinklers, the transition to retail is pretty much turn-key.

The building and surrounding acreage is zoned business so the change in occupancy will only require "site plan approval" by the Planning Board--far easier than a zoning change which requires a two-thirds vote of Amherst Town Meeting, an entity never know as business friendly.

By far the busiest business in South Amherst and top-ten town employer overall, a North Amherst Atkins operation would create bookend anchors for the entire town and attract new customers from far and wide--especially from up north. Daytrippers attracted to Yankee Candle--a tourist magnet in South Deerfield--would be tempted to make the short hop down to North Amherst.

With the Gateway corridor project--a joint effort between UMass and the Amherst Redevelopment Authority on the northern end of town center--reaching a critical point for a go-or-no-go launch decision, this positive development only a half mile on the other side of campus will clearly compliment the vision for a mixed use signature project on the former Frat Row.

North Amherst Center

Cowls Building Supply

But their flag is still there

So the Cowls family is calling it quits on their signature sawmill operation that represents nine generations of family blood, sweat and tears. The fundamental business model (and anybody who ever took a Business 101 course knows the 80/20 Rule--where 80% of your profit comes from 20% of your product line) of doing what you need to do in order to survive triumphs, as well it should.

Their main business, the building supply store, will continue on (and with the added value expertise of owners and skilled employees will continue to thrive.) And their vast holding of woodlands are not going anywhere anytime soon.

Alas, whatever the industry--it is simply impossible to compete with folks who sell $10 bills for $7.

The Springfield Republican reports