Amherst Office Park Expansion

 Amherst Office Park, South Amherst

The number one problem in Amherst today, the housing crunch, will get some small measure of relief as the Amherst Planning Board finally approved the Special Permits required for the addition of a new building to the Amherst Office Complex, a mixed use development located in the village center of South Amherst nestled between the Hickory Ridge Golf Course and West Street (Rt 116).

New mixed use building

The new 30,000 square foot building will house offices on the ground floor and 17 apartments (19 bedrooms total) on the second and third floors.  Originally the plan called for 12 apartments with 19 bedrooms total but was modified between hearings.  

Planning Board member Connie Kruger lamented this modification as it does not address the needs of families who may wish to move to Amherst.   But a recent study commissioned by the Amherst Housing and Sheltering Committee would seem to support the move:

While Amherst’s population grew by 13.8% from 1980 to 2010, the numbers of households increased more dramatically, by 21.7% to 9,259 total households. This is correlated to the increasing number of smaller, non-family households 3 , which increased from 3,482 in 1980 to 4,775 by 2010, now comprising the majority of all households in Amherst. This increase in smaller households is reflected in the decreasing average household size, from 2.61 persons in 1980 to 2.44 by 2010. The growing number of smaller, non-family households is also reflective of national trends driven by fewer numbers of children and “traditional” families, increases in “child-free” and “child-delayed” families, and increases in empty nesters and senior and frail populations, particularly those who are living alone. 

The office complex is owned and managed by Ron Laverdiere. The only person from the general public to speak at the Public Hearing was fellow South Amherst developer Rich Slobody, who heartily endorsed the expansion.

Slobody, who owns two adjacent office/retail buildings, pointed out that if the town wishes to make the area a true village center this expansion would help provide a vital component: customers.

The Planning Board voted unanimously to support the Special Permits, with Chair David Webber adding the closing comment, "Great project; and we're excited for the town."

Revenge of the Lorax

Speed limit sign ignored by 80% of drivers

At the "scenic road hearing" last night -- a joint meeting between the Amherst Planning Board and Tree Warden Alan Snow -- the fate of ten trees located near the crest of a hill at 666 South East Street was finally decided.  Sort of.

The Planning Board voted 5-2-2 to allow removal of the trees so the owners can put in a new driveway 60 feet north of the plateau, but they must allow the old driveway to return to its natural state.

In what PB Chair David Webber described as "compelling testimony" Amherst Fire Department Assistant Chief Don McKay confirmed the new driveway location would not impede emergency vehicle access.

The public safety expert disclosed, however, an ambulance or firetruck would still need to stage on South East Street; and where the driveway is currently located sets up a recipe for disaster from cars coming over the hill at an average speed of 40 mph.

He also pointed out after completing the site visit he was nearly clobbered trying to pull out of the current driveway by a car speeding over the hill.

Planning Board member Stephen Schreiber, addressing the "public safety" issue stated:  "I bike by there all the time.  It's not a danger to cyclists or pedestrians; but yes, it is a danger to you or friends and family entering or exiting."  Owner Christopher Benfey responded, "That is a brutal calculation."

The Planning Board also "recommended" to the Tree Warden -- who has the final say -- a 50% reduction in replacement cost fees assessed for taking down healthy trees in the public way.  At $90 per inch, that originally (for ten trees) came to $11,475.

But the Tree Warden, who voted "No" (making the overall vote 5-3-2), pointed out he already compromised by taking three trees out of the equation -- one which he agreed could be taken down the other two should be able to survive.

 

Tree Warden Alan Snow

This morning Mr. Snow confirmed that he has not changed his mind, and the homeowners will be assessed the replacement costs for seven trees, or just over $6,000.

Too bad our mothers were right:  "Money doesn't grow on trees."

The Retreat Charges Forward

The influential Planning Board voted 8-1 to advise the Amherst Select Board NOT to invoke a Right Of First Refusal on the 154 acres of woodland in northeast Amherst currently under a $6.5 million contract to become a gated student community known as "The Retreat."

Planning Board Chair David Webber summed it up succinctly:  "The price ($6.5 million) is too high."

About two dozen neighbors impacted by the development turned out to voice their displeasure with the project, including the usual worries over noise, traffic and vandalism.  But it's not like a casino is on the drawing board.

The Retreat will house 700 students on 154 acres, generating about 1,000 car trips per day vs Mohegan Sun's proposed casino in Palmer on 150 acres, generating 20,000 visitors and 10,000 cars per day.

Most of the 1.5 hours of testimony was wasted with long winded complaints about procedure.

 Jack Hirsch wants a "cost benefit analysis"

Under Ch61 the town has 120 days to decide to invoke its Right Of First Refusal, but the clock only starts ticking when a "bona fied" offer has been made.

 Assistant Town Manager Dave Ziomek:  "Property is not a high priority for the town."

Landmark Properties contract with W.D. Cowls, Inc was first submitted in March but the town rejected it as not bona fide, due to an easy escape clause.

The second contract was tendered on April 23 and was also initially rejected but after months of haggling the Town Attorney agreed on Monday that it was legitimate.  Therefor the 120 days is retroactive to April 23, or a drop dead deadline of August 21.

 Vince O'Connor:  Town Attorney should be "terminated" for taking too long reviewing contract

Either way the Select Board set their July 29 meeting as the day of reckoning and asked for the advice of the Planning Board and the Conservation Commission, who will take up the discussion next week.

 W.D. Cowls President Cinda Jones:  Gets paid $6.5 million one way or the other

Planning Board member Connie Kruger pointed out the town has a "significant need for student housing" and that the number one cost to the town for servicing new housing is children in the public schools -- which for this project will be zero.

 

Amherst Planning Board:  David Webber Chair (center) voted yes, Sandra Anderson (far right) only dissenting vote

The Retreat is a double win for the town: providing badly needed housing for a never ending supply of students coming to UMass/Amherst, while generating hundreds of thousands in annual property tax revenues.

Hiding In Plain Sight

Amherst Town Meeting Bus Tour under fire 

A "whistleblower" Amherst resident has filed an Open Meeting Law complaint with the Attorney General over the Town Meeting Bus Tour, where members go on site visits to places around town impacted by articles on the upcoming Town Meeting warrant.

Fair enough.  A good reporter should wear out a lot of shoes canvasing the scene of a story.  But in this case the complaint is not that a secret meeting took place -- after all the bus tour is widely promoted -- but that documents distributed on the tour were not placed into the public record.

And by the sounds of it, the documents in question were a tad fudged.  Maybe that's why they suddenly disappeared. 

The Town Meeting Coordinating Committee is taking up discussion of this later this afternoon as the Open Meeting Law requires the offending committee must be allowed to respond first.  If the complainant doesn't like their response he can then retake it up with the Attorney General.

Interestingly Town Meeting is exempt from many Open Meeting Law regulations -- conflict of interest being a major one.  The town meeting discussion list serve, privately owned by member Mary Streeter (who is also vice chair of the Town Meeting Coordinating Committee), is another good example.

It would be a gross violation of the OML if a majority of the Amherst Select Board engaged in discussions via email about any issue coming before them.

Yet the Amherst Town Meeting list serve was specifically created to do exactly that, and as of today has 208 members, W-A-Y beyond a quorum (128).

   Amherst Town Meeting OML Complaint

Weeds Grow In South Amherst

The two roundabouts at Atkins Corner are already going to seed.  Hey, what do you expect for a lousy $6 million.

The property is still in that netherworld where the contractor -- Baltazar Contractors Inc -- is finishing up a "punch list" of final details before the state Department Of Transportation accepts the work and then turns over responsibility of the turf to the town.

I'm told town officials are hoping Atkins Country Market and Hampshire College "adopt" the islands of green space.  After all, it is their front yard.

Town Hall Showdown

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign ...

On Wednesday night the Amherst Planning Board will be the first official town body to weigh in on the possible acquisition of 154 acres of sub prime woodland in northeast Amherst currently owned by W.D. Cowls, Inc, the largest private landowner in the state.

The property is enrolled in the state's Chapter 61A conservation program so it pays very little to the town in property taxes, but Amherst gets a "Right Of First Refusal" should the property come out of CH61A due to a sale.  In this case to a developer.  A b-i-g one, Landmark Properties.
 
By now any of you living within the Happy Valley nuclear fallout zone have noticed the ubiquitous red stop signs sprinkled on lawns everywhere.  The Retreat is what they wish to stop, a 190 unit student cottage style housing development proposed for the 154 acre parcel.

Although ideally, with a zoning change allowing denser development, only 30% of the property will be used; but as it now stands twice that percentage would be required ... and is allowed by right.

If built, the town assessor has guestimated The Retreat will pay the town $395,182 per year in annual property taxes with a guaranteed increase every year of 2.5%.

NIMBYs were already unceremoniously torpedoed at Amherst Town Meeting when they tried to have the town take the property by eminent domain, a drastic measure requiring a two-thirds super majority.  The "Motion to Dismiss" the article passed easily. 

Both the Planning Board and Conservation Commission are required to make a "recommendation" to the five-member Amherst Select Board, the final authority on deciding the Right Of First Refusal.

Late this afternoon the Town Attorney confirmed to the Select Board that the $6.5 million purchase and sale agreement for the property was legitimate.

Thus the ROFR will be a costly one, as the $6.5 million required to match Landmark Properties offer is more than the combined reserves the town has saved in Free Cash and Stabilization funds.

The Select Board vote (July 29th meeting) only requires a simple majority, but Town Meeting would also have to support funding the move with a two-thirds majority vote. 

Wednesday night's meeting sets the stage for a (remotely) possible epic failure.  Any member of the Planning Board who recommends this taking should be forced to write on a chalkboard 6.5 million times:  "America was founded on Free Enterprise."

Water, Water Everywhere

 

The town has issued a breaking news alert, unusual in that it really is breaking news, warning of bad things found in Amherst water.  No they have not issued a "boil water" alert, and the problem seems to be isolated to a small section of the system in the southern end of town.

DPW Chief Guilford Mooring confirms, "The heat (weather) is a factor and we will probably have to chlorinate the south side of Town for a while."  But he also pointed out reassuringly, "We had very low counts of total coliform colonies in the failed samples."

Back in late October, 2010 the public water tested worse than this time around and the town came within a drop of declaring a "boil water" alert.  At the time UMass was hosting a pair of sold out Phish concerts at the Mullins Center.

The town fired up its Emergency Operations Command to deal with the potential crisis, but follow up tests showed the problem went away.