Don't Stop

Intersection of Sunderland (left) & Montague Road in front of N. Amherst Library

One idea for the somewhat complicated intersection of Montague and Sunderland roads in North Amherst that has been completely ruled out by the DPW as an action plan is adding a stop sign to Sunderland Road for vehicles traveling north.

DPW Chief Guilford Mooring told the Public Works Committee on Thursday that it's a bad idea and would be strongly opposed by his department.

Mooring said the close intersection of five streets in the North Amherst Village Center really needs to be seen as two distinct intersections (Montague & Sunderland Road and Pine/Meadow/North Pleasant) and the overall rule is if you can't make a workable 5-way intersection then you need to push the two intersections farther apart.

Most of the plans presented at the town's most recent public forum last month do that, but would require a significant purchase of land behind the North Amherst Library.

The fix, according to Mooring, for Pine/Meadow/North Pleasant in the heart of North Amherst center is simple: Install new traffic control system and set the cycle to allow a left turn from Meadow Street onto North Pleasant.

Even better the town should purchase some property (from controversial student rental czar Jamie Cherewatti) to allow the installation of a left turn lane.

The town is planning yet another Public Forum in October for the tricky intersection(s).   Although town officials seem to want to focus on the upper intersection of Montague and Sunderland Roads, the plans presented will probably include tweaks to the main intersection just south of it in North Amherst Center.

A Roundabout Solution

Intersection of Triangle and East Pleasant Streets will go the way of roundabout

The Public Works Committee will hold a public unveiling next month of the plans for a new roundabout at the north end of downtown immediately adjacent to the new five-story, mixed-use (mostly residential) Kendrick Place.

 Click to enlarge/view

The new plans call for a slight taking ("by gift, purchase and/or eminent domain")  of property from Bank of America and a sliver of property from Kendrick Park, owned by the town.  But no taking of property from Jeff Brown.

 Failed to acquire two-thirds vote

In the Spring of 2014 Town Meeting turned down a general request for easements over nearby parcels but that vote required a two-thirds majority and failed by a 79 (yes) to 62 (No) vote.

In addition to the 8/20 meeting The Public Works Committee will hold one additional meeting three months later and will then make their recommendation to the Amherst Select Board, keepers of the public way.

The PWC has already voted previously to support a roundabout at that location, as long as it is state funded.

The state did provide $1.5 million MassWorks grant to bury utility lines in the immediate area (happening this summer) as long as the town provided matching funds in the form of improvements to that intersection.

Public Works Committee meeting last night

Public Private Parking

Parking lot behind CVS is half owned privately and other half public

Usually when you hear the three Ps mentioned in an Amherst public meeting it's in reference to a Public Private Partnership being used to build residential housing on UMass property to help mitigate the housing shortage in our #1 demographic, "college aged youth."

But of course an offshoot of increased residential dwelling units is a corresponding increase in parking -- even in Amherst, with a highly evolved public bus system, ride sharing apps, and a fondness for walking and cycling.

Last night the Zoning Subcommittee of the Planning Board agreed to take on the issue of downtown parking.

The Municipal Parking District currently gives a free pass to developers on providing parking, and the recent rise of Kendrick Place -- with 36 units of housing and no parking -- has brought that issue to a boiling point (For a few loud individuals at least).

Kendrick Place will open next month

One idea for the Planning Board is the possibility of allowing private business owners who provide surfacing parking as an accessory use to their business to install meters or machines to charge for shared parking.  Currently that would require a Special Permit rather than the more simple Site Plan Review.

Another idea floated was to come up with zoning regulations for a privately owned parking garage, although Business Improvement Director Sarah la Cour told the committee that any structure should be part of a larger overall plan and be "mixed use" rather than just parking.

The idea of a new public (or Public/Private) parking garage has been picking up steam recently.  The current parking lot behind CVS is considered a prime candidate, although Ms. la Cour did mention that it is currently (mostly) zoned RG (General Residence) rather than BG (General Business) and thus would require Town Meeting approval for a zoning change.

And any zoning article requires a challenging two-thirds vote to pass.  Last Spring Town Meeting voted by more than a majority for two "citizens petition" zoning articles that would have devastated downtown development with burdensome parking regulations and redefining what constitutes a "mixed use" building.

Another idea floated is for the Planning Board to tweak the current regulations in the Municipal Parking District to remove the exemption for "residential" uses and require .5 parking spaces per dwelling unit, plus one additional space per 10 total units.

Developers could also pay a "fee-in-lieu" of providing parking at a rate of $2,000 per space, which would be retained in a "Town Center Parking Reserve Fund" that would be used "solely for the purpose of constructing new parking spaces."

Had these regulations been in effect Kendrick Place, with 36 residential units, would then have had to provide 22 parking spaces or pay a penalty of  $44,000.

The Select Board and Planning Board jointly held three Public Parking Forums over the past year, and a final report is expected to be issued by the Planning Department before the end of summer.

The Zoning Subcommittee decided it best to await that report before digging in on any concrete proposal for parking changes in the downtown.

And since Kendrick Place is expected to open next month, it would also allow time to weigh the impact that has on downtown parking.

Zoning Subcommittee of PB:  Rob Crowner, Bruce Carson, Stephen Schreiber, Greg Stutsman

Regionalization Lurches Forward

 Amherst Regional High Schoool

After four years of work by their sub-committee the Amherst Pelham Regional School Committee gave majority support to the concept of expanding the current grades 7-12 Region (Middle & High School) all the way down to Kindergarten - 6th grade.

The RSC voted 5-4 at their June 23rd meeting to forward the Regional Agreement Working Group final report to attorney Giny Tate (again) with one slight amendment -- changing the term of School Committee members from four years to a mix of two and four year terms.

Newly reelected RSC Chair Trevor Baptiste will work this summer with attorney Tate and Superintendent Maria Geryk to ensure the draft agreement is back by September 1st.

But in order for the proposal to really move forward so it can be voted on by all four towns it requires a two-thirds affirmative vote of the Regional School Committee.  That all-important vote is expected to come before March 1st so all four towns can vote on it in the  Spring of 2016. 

The governance of the new Region would be an unwieldy 13 member Regional School Committee with 7 members from Amherst and two each from the Leverett, Pelham and Shutesbury.  Currently the Regional School Committee is a total of 9 members, 5 from Amherst, 2 from Pelham and one each from Shutesbury and Leverett.

Why Pelham currently gets two committee members is anybody's guess, considering both Leverett and Shutesbury's population are considerable larger than Pelham.

And with Amherst providing 88% of the population (and funding) is it really fair for the new governance scheme to reduce the power of Amherst to only a 54% majority?

The Committee kept the provision requiring 8 votes to close a school, even though member Dan Robb suggested two-thirds (9 votes) provided a "higher bar."   Even at 8 that means the seven Amherst members must still win over at least one other member from the other three towns.

 Financial analysis:  $600,000 savings is a tad disingenuous

Interestingly the concept of closing the Regional Middle School, located in Amherst,  and combining the students into the Regional High School, also located in Amherst, is currently on the radar.

The smaller hilltowns are of course concerned that the new Region would close their elementary school for the good of the Region.  Both Pelham and Leverett have declining school populations with status quo budgets getting harder and harder to maintain.

Some Amherst officials fear those two financially strapped towns could someday vote down the Regional budget if economic relief is not found.  The current Regional Agreement requires 3 out of 4 towns vote yes for the overall budget to pass.  

So can those two desperate towns drive the entire expanded Regionalization movement?  The new  Region cannot form without the unanimous support of all four towns.

Shutesbury is certainly not having any part of it.  At the February 24 Regional School Committee meeting RAWG member Michael DeChiara flat out announced he was voting No to the new Region and would be recommending voters at Shutesbury Town Meeting follow his lead.

DeChiara, a former School Committee member, has since gone on to be elected to the Shutesbury Select Board -- the highest political office in town -- so his influence alone could be a deal killer.

   Amherst Regional School expansion vote

The Big H

John Kydd, age 49, arraigned in Eastern Hampshire District Court yesterday

Maybe I should start a "Heroin Dishonor Roll" just so drunk drivers don't feel singled out.  Yes, the bubble that envelops our little college town does not protect us from the opioid scourge that has swept the nation.

And growing up Irish Catholic -- even though not still practicing -- (almost before Amherst was known as a "college town") one ingrained belief you never lose is the concept of a second chance.  As in everyone deserves one. 

This was Mr. Kydd's second offense.

He was released on his own recognizance, assigned a public defender (at a $300 charge) and will return to District Court on August 18.

DUI Dishonor Roll

On average, 2 out of 3 people will be involved in a drunk driving crash in their lifetime

Again this past weekend Amherst police took three impaired drivers off the road -- Amanda Gray, age 27; Claudimila Deoliveiramartin, age 22 and Michael Lewandowski, age 36.  All three had pleas of not guilty entered in their behalf this morning in Eastern Hampshire District Court and their cases were continued until next month.

And since all of them took and flunked the Breathalyzer test back at APD headquarters -- the one that is admissible in Court -- they all would be wise to accept the Commonwealth's standard offer of a 24D disposition.

Amanda Gray

Claudimila Deoliveiramartin

Click to enlarge/read
 

Michael Lewandowski

Misty Lightning Rod

Kendrick Place Saturday morning just before the mist rolled in

Normally I post to this blog first, created a tiny url, come up with a snappy one sentence teaser, and then post to Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, which combined drive about 33% of my traffic.

These days I also post a fair amount to those three social media sites photos or slice-of-life incidents that don't quite rise to the level of a full-story blog post.

But this is the first time I'm doing a blog post based on a simple Facebook item, which as of now has attracted more feedback than any Facebook post in my short history (beating out I'm sad to say a picture of my darling daughters from a couple years back.)

Obviously Kendrick Place is a lightning rod guaranteed to attract attention.  Kind of like cute kitty videos on YouTube.

Some people see it as an ugly monster dominating the skyline in the northern end of dowtown, while others see it as a tax generating symbol of progress that helps to fill the number one need in the town today:  housing.

Interestingly enough as of this writing the simple Facebook photo op has drawn 32 comments, but only seven outright negative.  More interestingly it also has 37 "likes," and I assume my friends would not hit the like button unless they kind of liked the idea of the building.

 Kendrick Place in the mist (some would like it do disappear altogether)

Or maybe it was just the artsy photo.  Oddly enough the mist rolled in 5 or 6 minutes after my drone went airborne and had already snapped a few photos.  When looking at my iPad Mini monitor I at first thought it was just condensation on the lens but a glance up quickly proved otherwise.

 Carriage Shops: future site of One East Pleasant Street

Whatever the case, with all this attention generated by a five-story mixed-use building with only 36 residential units you have to wonder what's going to happen when One East Pleasant street goes up pretty much next door -- with over twice that capacity.

I hope the developers plan to install extra heavy duty lightning rods.

   1 East Pleasant, Amherst by Larry Kelley

UPDATE 8:30 PM So I'm pleased to report I have a new winner for all time high likes on Facebook (yeah, that was quick):