Town Meeting Clean Sweep

Amherst Planning Board

The Amherst Planning Board hit a grand slam home run this evening as all of their zoning articles passed Town Meeting by over a two-thirds vote, despite the usual gloom and doom concerns about "student housing".

Since the state considers medical marijuana  a "protected use" it's coming to Amherst one way or the other, but with the passing of Article 13 the town has some say in where and how it develops.

Surprisingly Article 14, making it easier to construct a duplex as long as one side is permanently "affordable", came the closest to failing.  Once again the spectre of student housing was the concern, since the duplex does not have to be "owner occupied." 

Not like a profit minded developer is going to construct a brand new house with one side forever "affordable" and the other side rented out to party animals who add wear and tear like a herd of buffaloes.

 Standing vote to "call the question" to end debate

Article 15 would make it slightly easier to construct dorm-like housing on six lots (three on North Pleasant Street and three on Olympia Drive) very near the #1 provider of housing customers, UMass.  After a Tally Vote the article passed handily 112-51.

Article 16 simply clarified whether it was the Planning Board or Zoning Board who had jurisdiction in issuing modest waivers on dimensional requirements.

Articles 17 and 18 were technical fixes, mostly semantic, requested by the Building Commissioner to set in stone practices that previous Commissioners have used for over 25 years.

North Amherst resident Melissa Perot spoke for five minutes from the podium against Article 18 and the next speaker from the floor was her husband who branded it "spot zoning".

They failed miserably to convince Town Meeting.  Which set the stage for an even bigger failure as Article 19, also the handiwork of Melissa Perot, would undo parts of Article 18 that just passed overwhelmingly.

And by that same massive margin her tilting at windmills article went down to defeat.



#20, the final article, was the typical feel good Amherst kind of statement:  Divestment of funds in fossil fuels.  Over the Finance Committee's 6-0 objection (even though the resolution is non binding) Town Meeting overwhelmingly passed the Al Gore inspired article.

And then everyone hastened to their cars. 

DUI Dishonor Roll

Perhaps it's a bit surprising Amherst Police bagged only two DUI drivers over the Halloween weekend considering all the intoxicated college aged youth AFD ended up transporting to Cooley Dickinson Hospital and how busy APD was otherwise with Party Houses all over town.

Of course when a Party House or fight on the street attracts a half dozen police cars, that's a fair amount of time those vehicles are not on the prowl or ensconced in a secure/hidden location observing routine traffic watching for killers on the road. 

Making simple mistakes like running a stop sign will of course garner the attention of a patrol car -- especially at 2:33 AM.  And Rebecca L. Tobey, age 23,  should know that since this was her second offense.

In Court on 10/30 Judge John Payne Jr. appointed Ms. Tobey a public defender and continued the trial until January 6. 

Doing 68 in a 35 MPH zone at 2:13 AM will also garner undivided attention.  Newman M. Galati, age 21, flunked his FSTs and was arrested.  Although not his second offense for DUI, Mr. Galati did manage to get arrested at a Party House last year (where residents were abusive to APD).

Arraigned on Monday morning before Judge Payne, Mr. Galati had a plea of "not guilty" entered in his behalf, the Judge then assigned him a court appointed attorney, freed him on his own recognizance to return for trial on December 10.

Amherst School Committee Cannibals

 Geeze for a moment there I thought I was watching a Catherine Sanderson era School Committee meeting, where free expression reigned ... until the system crushed the rebellion.

For context sake:  Regional School Committee members (those who wished to) responded to  presentations by senior ARPS Admin staff regarding "School Improvement Plan." Some of them were ever so mildly critical.  Mr. Fonsh, Committee Chair, took great offense.  A tad too easily.  

Fall Back In Civility

 Saturday 11:50 PM APD and AFD @ 647 Main Street for large party and passed out drunk individual

For most of us the extra hour afforded by the demise of daylight savings time provided an opportunity for something too often short in supply:  sleep.  But for that tiny minority of college aged youth who tarnish the reputations of the overwhelming majority, it was an excuse to party even hardier.

Amherst police ricochet all over town trying to quell noisy parties -- especially during those "Bewitching Hours" just before and after midnight.  At peak times responses to calls for service were delayed by as much as an hour.

Yes Dispatch knows how to prioritize response in a life-or-death situation, shifting officers from a routine noise complaint to the more serious call.  But occasionally a deadly serious calls starts out routine, and the prompt presence of a police officer would prevent it from breaking bad.

Late Saturday into early Sunday was noticeably worse than late Friday into early Saturday, which alone was bad enough.   In all, police busted four large party houses with arrests but made numerous calls to other party houses all around town that resulted in warnings.

The party at 338 Pine Street only generated one arrest -- as the young ladies in charge were very cooperative -- but it was a doozy.  Jay Patel, age 20, was  -- to say the least -- uncooperative.  He was arrested around midnight for Assault and Battery on a police officer, Resisting Arrest, Disorder Conduct, and Minor in possession of alcohol.

In Eastern Hampshire District Court on Monday morning a not guilty plea was entered in his behalf and his case was continued to December 18.  What a Merry Christmas his family is going to have.

219 E. Pleasant Street

219 E Pleasant Street, a usual suspect house, also only had one arrest for noise/nuisance and one summons for underage possession of alcohol, generating $600 in fines.  

The four residents of 96 Bridge Street were somewhat more cooperative even if the party was "large and loud," so they were only arrested for noise violations, generating $1,200 in fines.

320 North Pleasant Street

The 2-family house (legally holding 8 tenants) at 320 North Pleasant Street, owned by Joel Greenbaum, tied for most arrests at one location, six, with the house at 240 Northampton Road Friday night that also had six arrested.  Although according to assessor records only 4 tenants should be legally living there.

And since each of the houses went above and beyond the call for partying, all 12 perps were charged  for both Noise and Nuisance violations.  Although as is his routine Judge John Payne Jr. only enforced the $300 fine on the Noise complaint, thus forfeiting $3,600 in fine revenue.

But it's still a good thing for APD to use the Nuisance House bylaw as the Judge does find them "responsible" and files the charge, bringing with it a four month probation.  While that may not quite bring them to the end of the semester I'm sure the DA's office would take note if they repeat the same offense anytime over the next year.  

All of the students appeared contrite in Court, were all well dressed, and many had parents in tow.  In fact the attorney for the boys at 240 Northampton Road told the Judge his clients had been "read the riot act" by their parents and had written a letter of apology to APD.

Two of the Party Houses that generated arrests on Saturday night are owned by Joel Greenbaum so hopefully he will take note.  If not, on the third offense (per house) Mr. Greenbaum will be hit with a $300 fine.  

A Clean Dozen

 Assistant Town Manager David Ziomek tries to pitch Town Meeting the property deal

Amherst Town Meeting raced through articles tonight like a turtle on crack, completing 12 of 20 articles on the November Special Town Meeting warrant.

The only issue that generated controversy was Article 11, an Open Space $151,000 purchase of about 20 acres of undeveloped property in East Amherst for conservation purposes, normally a sacred cow in the town of Amherst.

The article was supported unanimously by the Select Board and Finance Committee, but after a 45 minute discussion failed rather miserably (90 No, to 72 Yes) considering it needed a two thirds majority to pass.

Town officials pushed the idea of a "community farm" pointing out how the All Things Local Cooperative Market movement was interested in using the property as a incubator for fledgling farmers.

Ironically the most devastating presentation against the proposal came from Sarah E. O'Brien Swartz the newest member of the Finance Committee, who was appointed to replace the current owner of the 20 acre property, Bob Saul, who suddenly resigned from the Finance Committee.

He had purchased the land, currently assessed at only $8,500, five years ago for $157,000.

Ms Swartz, who co-owns Swartz Family Farm in North Amherst, pointed out that farming is "hard". Her explanation of the rigors of full time farming as compared to recreational "community gardens" reminded me of someone who trained for an ascent of Mt Washington by cycling the perfectly flat bike path three or four times a week. (He didn't make it.)

Opponents questioned the high price for land that probably would never be developed anyway, and at most would only support one house.

Since $41,785 of the total amount was coming from "Community Preservation Funds", which can also be spent for "affordable housing," speakers pointed out the money would be better spent on possibly purchasing Echo Village Apartments or Rolling Green Apartments in order to preserve those affordable units.

Town Meeting had no problem supporting Article 10, spending $180,000 in tax money (contingent on a matching state grant of $180,000) for 12 acres of property around the Atkins Reservoir.

That property was more easily developable and is currently owned by the largest private landowner in the state, W.D. Cowls, Inc.

Tellers prepare for a recorded Tally Vote on Article 11

Hot Time For AFD

 5 ambulances at Cooley Dickinson Hospital Halloween night/morning, all for ETOH

 These (now) public documents speak for themselves (scroll down to UMass).  Volumes.

AFD Nov 1st weekend.pdf by larry_kelley_1

Halloween was pretty scary:

   AFD Halloween:  Scary!

Yes, it's getting worse:

Graph by Tom Valle, Firefighters Local 1764

Sweet Spot

 

Sweet kids promoting a sweet cause

Downtown Amherst transformed into a sugarholics paradise on Saturday afternoon with 20 businesses participating in the first annual "Amherst Mega Dessert Crawl".  The event was a town/gown affair jointly sponsored by Phi Sigma Pi, a co-ed national honor fraternity,  and the Amherst Business Improvement District.

 Bertucci's reported an overwhelming response.  Perfect location across from start at Kendrick Park

Over three hundred participants paid the bargain price of $20 for 20 coupons to exchange for a tasty treat.  The event attracted a bevy of UMass students -- some with their parents in tow -- local families and bargain conscious foodies. 

All proceeds benefit Reader To Reader program, a nonprofit agency that brings a magical gift to the underprivileged world wide:  books. 

 

David Mazor: Founding Executive Director of Reader to Reader and BID  Board of Directors member