A conflict over conflict of interest

clockwise: Peg Roberts, Larry Shaffer, Aaron Hayden, John Coull, Jonathan Tucker

If someone had not taunted me in town center on Thursday morning I would not have known to call the State Ethics Division to inquire about a complaint lodged against fellow Amherst Redevelopment Authority member Aaron Hayden who is also--coincidentally enough--up for reelection tomorrow.

The State Ethics Division is like the Secret Service or FBI when it comes to investigations, as they will not "confirm or deny" anything...however if you talk long enough, you can figure out if a complaint was filed.

Interestingly enough the next day (Friday 3/25) the Daily Hampshire Gazette published a Letter To The Editor from anti-Gateway kingpin, former Washington D.C. attorney, and neighbor to the potential development, John Fox supporting the ARA candidacy of rabidly anti-Gateway activist Vince O'Connor.

And in his lede Mr. Fox warns about "...potential conflicts that confront Aaron Hayden as a member of both the five-member Select Board and the five-member ARA, which have important overlapping issues." Hmm...

Ten years ago Select Board chair Carl Seppala was also an ARA member. And so much "conflict" existed at the time over ARA joint development with the town that the episode became known as "The Garage War." No complaints, however, about "conflict of interest" over Mr. Seppala's important dual roles.

A few months back sleeper activist Mary Wentworth publicly suggested Select Board Chair Stephanie O'Keeffe had conflicts of interest because her father John Coull is Chair of the ARA, and she lives on Butterfield Terrace within the Gateway's "neighborhood planning area."

Ms. O'Keeffe herself requested a State Ethics Division legal opinion and they concluded neither is a conflict of interest, which she publicly shared during a Select Board meeting. And, not surprisingly, the state recently found no conflict of interest exists with Mr. Hayden as well.

Disclaimer: Although I'm a longtime member of the ARA, Umass graduate, Continuing Education student and 5th generation Amherst resident, I speak here, as I always do, strictly for myself (and for the hard-pressed taxpayers of this town) using that cherished American ideal known as the First Amendment.

Gateway Project pauses

A shovel ready former Frat Row

The Amherst Redevelopment Authority met this evening for the first time since the whirlwind three days of public input at the Gateway Visioning Charrette last month with advice cascading in from all quarters to clarify a vision for a large swath of land connecting UMass to downtown Amherst.

The final report from our consultant Giani Longo is scheduled for presentation on 6/29 to a joint meeting of the Amherst Planning Board and the ARA at an open public meeting--an official unveiling, minus the drumroll.

Giani Longo

The ARA hopes to receive a draft copy hot off the Internet a week or so before the public presentation and will make that available to the general public as well.

The scope of the project was somewhat constrained when predominant public opinion envisioned less dense development on the 2 acre parcel UMass owns, still referred to as "Frat Row" even though the five frat houses are long gone.

One of the sub-consultants also thought adjacent property in the corridor was not slummy enough to be considered "blighted" (although Phillips Street stood out as "decadent") which is required for the ARA to attain 'Urban Renewal' status that brings with it federal money and easier use of imminent domain powers.

Unfortunately our colleagues from UMass, Deputy Chancellor Todd Diacon and Director of External Relations Nancy Buffone missed this meeting as they are attending a four day conference in Colorado hosted by the International Town & Gown Association, where one of the major topics of discussion will be how to control rowdy student behavior in otherwise quiet neighborhoods.

Deputy Chancellor Todd Diacon center

When the topic of "new business" came up, the entire committee opposed even considering other projects besides Gateway and agreed that even if reduced in scope this project can still be a signature development of premier proportions.

Select Board Supports Gateway

Last night the venerable Amherst Select Board unanimously passed (with one abstention) an advisory resolution supporting the "public process" about to commence with the Gateway Corridor Project, a unique coalition of three significant public entities: UMass, the town and the Amherst Redevelopment Authority.

(Aaron Hayden abstained on the supportive vote as he is also a member of the ARA.)

While this may appear at first glance a common sense, non-controversial edict, the subtle purpose was to offset a petition delivered to the Select Board last December decrying the broad nature of the public input process and demanding a series of public meetings focusing on the misperception that Gateway is simply a means to "adding a substantial number of undergraduates to old Frat Row."

The ARA meets this evening to choose a consultant (estimated cost $30,000 in state money) to lead the "visioning process" over the next four months. Let the wider public input begin.

Gateway Project Dress Rehearsal

So tonight's Amherst Redevelopment Authority meeting was simply an extra study session with our homework--the final draft from our $30,000 consultant on the Gateway Vision and Action Steps--before the B-I-G public unveiling next Wednesday evening in a joint public hearing with the Planning Board.

The key question tonight came from someone in the audience: Is the University of Massachusetts still interested in donating the signature property of almost 2 acres (former Frat Row) now that the preliminary design vision wants to keep half of it green space?

Deputy Chancellor Todd Diacon dodged the question for now, but confirmed he would be talking to the new President, Robert Caret in July. And of course the fate of current UMass/Amherst Chancellor Robert Holub could also have a major impact.
################################
June 29, 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM @ Town Room, Town Hall

MEETING TIME: 7:00 pm. LOCATION: Town Room, Town Hall. LIST OF TOPICS - Joint Mtg. w/Amherst Redevelopment Authority - A. Presentation: Gateway Corridor Vision & Next Steps, Gianni Longo, ACP; B. Board questions and comments; C. Public questions and comments.

Hypocritical activist

Vince O'Connor posing for Rockwell

A dozen years ago forever activist Vince O'Connor filed a warrant article (one of the hundreds over the past thirty years) demanding Amherst town meeting take parcel C-3 in town center via eminent domain. At that time the Amherst Redevelopment Authority owned the property,having themselves taken it by eminent domain in the early-to mid-1970s.

Vince was a prime mover in the largest land taking in Amherst history--the 1987 taking of the Cherry Hill Golf Course--where town meeting heavy handedly used an "emergency measure" legal proviso to preclude voter referendum. Thus, as an ARA member (Governor appointed), I took his threat seriously.

The ARA had just completed a commercial appraisal ($350,000) as the final step in preparing a Request For Proposals for a private developer to do something economically constructive with the valuable property.

But things changed quickly when the town became serious about a parking garage. The ARA quickly voted to donate the prime piece to Amherst, with only one provision: the parking garage had to have the structural integrity to support another deck to enable future expansion.

Vince's proposal lost overwhelmingly on a voice vote and the rest as they say is history. And without the Boltwood Walk Parking Garage , millions of dollars in expansion, renovation and new backfill construction would never have happened--especially the new $4 million Boltwood Place mixed-use building immediately behind Judie's that broke ground a few weeks back.

Four years ago Mr. O'Connor was at it again; he filed a town meeting warrant article calling for "the abolishment of the ARA." Although strangely enough he concurrently ran for the open ARA seat in a stealth write-in campaign because no one had bothered to collect the 50 signatures required to get on the printed ballot.

I won the 5-year seat, which I currently hold, besting Vince 67-18.

Tuesday's election is going to be a snoozer, as voter turnout will be nothing if not lame (thanks mainly to Catherine Sanderson being bullied into not rerunning for School Committee).

Thus Mr. O'Connor stands a chance of getting close enough (McCarthy vs President Johnson 1968 New Hampshire primary) to use as public relations spin that Gateway is opposed by a significant percentage of voters, even though it will be a percentage of a tiny percentage of overall voters.

Mr. O'Connor staunchly opposes the Gateway Project, a development which will add significantly to the town's anemic commercial tax base, while he champions the redirection of ARA energies to creating a "Boys and Girls Club" or YMCA type recreation facility that will of course be tax exempt. Amherst is already half owned by tax exempts.

Having run a fitness facility in Amherst for 28 years I know all too painfully well that the recreation offerings in the area are now overly abundant--and with Planet Fitness around, they are also exceedingly cheap.

Recent entries include UMass $50 million Recreation Center, Central Rock Climbing Gym in Hadley (with a competitor already on the drawing board), a storefront Aerobics and Fitness Studio in east Amherst and former Leading Edge Gym diehards still pining to reopen somewhere (over the rainbow) plus the oldest surviving full-service club in the area, Hampshire Athletic Club.

Mr. O'Connor also points out that numerous buildings (two of them churches) are within the overall Gateway corridor area and, unlike the demolished Frat houses, do not fit the description of "blighted."

But no other property is needed other than the 1.8 acre former Frat Row that UMass is prepared to donate. If a $4 million, five story building can fit on 2,500 square feet postage stamp space behind Judie's, what can you erect on almost 80,000 square feet (thirty times larger) of perfectly graded property?

Future home of Boltwood Place

Future home of something spectacular

If Amherst cannot put aside its development phobia for a cause this outstanding, then what hope is there for any beneficial project with vision and class?

The Springfield Republican Reports

The Bulletin Reported:

Funny profile of Vince by Mary Carey

UMass community outreach on neighborhood stabilization

Gateway Project: Another brick in the wall

Former Frat Row


Current Frat Row (shovel ready)

The Amherst Redevelopment Authority this evening voted unanimously to issue a Request For Proposals seeking a consultant to help define and flesh out the mixed use 'Gateway Project'--so named because it connects the northern end of Amherst town center with the main entry to Umass, our double Goliath: higher education flagship and #1 employer in Western Massachusetts.

The deadline for response is December 3 with a budget cap of $30,000. The ambitious project is a joint venture between Umass, the town and the Amherst Redevelopment Authority--a separate legal entity with the compulsory power of eminent domain.

The idea of course creates a win-win situation where Umass gets more housing (a minor win) for students and faculty while the town gets a desperately needed increase in the commercial tax base (a major win) now hovering below a pathetic 10%.

Neighbors of course complained most vociferously right from the getgo--even though we have yet to propose anything.

Heated controversy ensued just after the meeting adjourned (8:37 PM) and seemed to center around "Public Comment" not being heard before the vote to issue the RFP was taken. I for one, heard nothing remotely new or compelling in the 'Public Comments' portion of the meeting to change my vote on issuing the RFP.

ARA Member Peggy Roberts, bless her heart, tried to assure the neighbors that their concerns would be heard all along the way--and, in fact, already have been.

And so it goes...

Gateway Project RFP as voted by the ARA

From: Tucker, Jonathan
To: ARA Sent: Thu, Oct 14, 2010 3:42 pm
Subject: Minutes

For the record, Ms. Russell’s assertion at last night’s meeting notwithstanding, the most recent approved ARA minutes on the Town website are those of the meetings of July 7 and 14, not the meeting of June 23.

Jonathan Tucker

Planning Director

-----Original Message-----
From: amherstac@aol.com
To: ARA
Sent: Thu, Oct 14, 2010 3:56 pm
Subject: Re: Minutes

And for the record, all of the outstanding meeting minutes yet to be "officially approved"--including last night's--have been covered (almost instantly) on my very public blog for the whole world to see (and even Comment, if they wish).
Larry K

Backhand attack on The Gateway

So oddly enough, NIMBY attack dog John Fox used the Gateway Project as a hammer to pound a much needed broader zoning change (that failed to muster the two thirds required for passage) to aid smart development in overly enlightened Amherst.

And yes, it would have been a positive sign for The Gateway Project surviving the gauntlet known as Amherst Town Meeting at some future point.

Mr Fox, a former Washington lawyer no less, told town meeting he did not "understand how this will be implemented."

Hmm...Over the twenty years I suffered through town meeting with zoning articles every year, nobody in the room ever completely understood how something as complicated as zoning would be implemented and how it would look "in five years, ten years, fifteen years."


My friend and fellow blogger and still Town Meeting member Gavin Andresen came up with a new and improved acronym. BANANA: Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone. Indeed! But probably another "only in Amherst" thing.

ARA hires ACP for Gateway Corridor visioning

The Amherst Redevelopment Authority, lead agency in the ambitious Gateway reconstruction project connecting downtown Amherst to UMass, unanimously (5-0) choose ACP associates to lead the charge and orchestrate the "public visioning process"--a massive outreach to everyone concerned about the future of Amherst and our flagship institution of higher education.

ACP has extensive experience with the unique process of acquiring and curating public input to bring about consensus, especially difficult in Amherst ("where only the H is silent"); they have also successfully consulted on the arduous multi-year process for adoption of a new Amherst "Master Plan," the first major planning revision in 40 years.

They emphasized to the ARA how a major project like Gateway needs to be visionary, grounded in reality, supported by the community and--perhaps most important--implementable.

A site (visit) to behold

Frat Row: A wide expanse of flat open space in the perfect location, shovel ready

The Amherst Redevelopment Authority met principal vision consultants from American Communities Partnership both formerly at the Planning Department in Town Hall and informally at Judie's--my favorite downtown restaurant--and and then ambled along a site tour (both driving and on foot) of the general area that will someday--hopefully soon--transform the Gateway Corridor leading to UMass.Perhaps Friday was not the perfect day to get an idea of the true nature of the neighborhood as UMass is on Spring break so things were a lot quieter than normal, still the pros from ACP consulting were certainly able to get the physical lay of the land.

The main corridor easiest to define is North Pleasant street running along Frat Row with bookend churches, Mercy House on the southern end close to town center and the First Baptist Church at the northern end just before entering the main campus.

Mercy House Church

First Baptist Church

Stakeholder meetings with all the major players--immediate neighbors, UMass and Town officials, local business leaders, Town Meeting Coordinating Committee, League of Women Voters, etc--will start April 12 and conclude on April 14, setting the agenda for the wide-open interactive public event known as a charrette, now scheduled for April 28,29 and 30.

And since the two churches are well within the Gateway Corridor, one will probably be drafted as a convenient host site.


The Daily Collegian reports

Umass, Town, ARA team up for development

Thursday update: I live-blogged this last night and participated as an ARA member so please excuse the quirky writing style.
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7: 30 PM
First meeting in forever: All 5 ARA (Amherst Redevelopment Authority) members are present, four members elected one appointed by the Governor, a quasi state agency with the power of eminent domain. Aaron Hayden, Jeanne Treaster, John Coul, Margaret Roberts and me (or is it I?).

First up election of officers: John Coull Chair, Larry Kelley Vice Chair, Clerk Jeanne Traester (the Governor's appointee who's term is up soon.)

Town Manager Larry Shaffer making a presentation: Concept of a "Gateway Redevelopment District" near the University of Mass. He's been approached by two large corporations who wish to build large upscale student housing projects ($80 million worth) and a luxurious Hotel project ($25 Million worth.) Umass is talking about increasing student population by upwards of 3,000 students.

Downtown is split up between a few heavy hitters. These new folks require 2 to 5 acres of contiguous property for their projects. UMass may convey property to the town (or ARA) the former "frat row" on North Pleasant Street, now just level open space.

ARA could bundle or assemble these properties for the developers. We want the property to be taxable, and close to the downtown so they provide business for our merchants. Grow our tax base (currently 2 billion) by 10%.

7:40 PM Town Manger wants ARA to be "lead agency". Actually had 2 developers talking about hotels--each requiring about 2 or 2.5 acres of property. Frat Row is 1.8 acres. Construction costs are at historic lows. He's been in touch with all the local heavy hitter (Jones family, Barry Roberts etc) but just can't "puzzle our way" through it. Too many property owners each with too small a piece of the overall pie.

Umass would give up Frat Row to the ARA, with conditions (about the projects undertaken). Umass thinks it will not be a problem to convey the property. Looking at taking a Sorority just north of Frat Row and the University Lodge (20 unit hotel owned by former ARA member Curt Shumway) just south, both contiguous with what once was the 4 rowdy frathouses to make for a larger contiguous property.

Private developers need the help of the town (to keep the NIMBYs at bay).

7:55 PM: Rezoning would be required: two thirds vote of Amherst Town Meeting...ouch!

8:20 PM: Jonathan Tucker (Planning Director): In order to go forward you need a plan and the state has to approve it.

8: 30 PM Unanimous vote of the ARA to "prioritize the Gateway Redevelopment District" as a near and present project.

ARA would shape the project and then put it out to RFP (Request For Proposals bid) and let the private sector do the actual project.

Next Meeting March 10 with Umass officials (some of it will be in Executive Session)
Big green spot in middle is former Frat Row: church and commercial hotel immediately below and sorority above.

Previous post on Frat Row.

Local Election Fever

 

Noon today, Amherst town center.  Note Select Board candidates don't even bother

With actual town-wide contests on the ballot, Tuesday's election will draw twice the voter turnout as last year's snoozer.

Although, that's not saying much since last year Amherst -- where even the H is silent -- saw a pitiful showing at the election booth of only 6.6%; compared to 69% the previous year for the Presidential contest (which in Massachusetts is not much of a contest).

And with two of four Select Board candidates firmly representing the status quo establishment vying for two open seats, and with each voter allowed to vote for two candidates, Finance Committee Chair Andy Steinberg and Amherst Housing Authority Chair Connie Kruger are nothing if not unbeatable.

The other two candidates -- John Boothroyd and Helen Berg -- can flip a coin to see who's last. Although considering her eccentricities, let's hope it's Helen Berg.



When it comes to the Select Board race -- after the tumultuous years of Czar Anne Awad, his lordship Gerry Weiss and t-shirt tosser Rob Kusner -- the last six years have been pretty smooth sailing.

Well, other than the perennial national embarrassment over censoring the commemorative American flags in the downtown on 9/11.

So I'm quite comfortable with Steinberg and Kruger assuming top leadership roles in town government, as it's not like "changing horses in mid stream." 

The School Committee is a different matter altogether.  Amherst has champagne costs with lite beer results.  And the PC problem, also a PR nightmare, of racism and bullying has been an issue for many years; an issue the current School Committee has done nothing to solve.

So I'm more than up for giving an outsider a chance -- especially since Vira Douangmany is not your usual white-bread upper middle class automaton, and her husband owns a small business.  Maybe now the connection between expensive school costs bringing on high property taxes in a town that has a tiny commercial tax base will be understood.

The Amherst Redevelopment Authority is dead but if it is ever revived it wouldn't hurt to have a stakeholder with some passion on board, so I will be voting for Paige Wilder, even though we strongly disagreed on the Gateway Project.

Phillips Street was the only area in the Gateway that was officially ruled "decadent" (making it easier to take by eminent domain) by a certified consultant, so maybe some day the ARA will take the  street, flatten it, and build something we can all be proud of.  That is, if they ever meet again. 

Same can be said for Amherst Housing Authority.  While I would strongly disagree with Tracy Lee Saraia Grace Boutilier's quest to take Echo Village Apartments by eminent domain (they are not considered "decadent") she would still bring an impassioned outsider perspective informed by experience.

Ah, Town Meeting -- that overwhelmingly white, overly educated bastion of democracy. Until Amherst grows up and switches to a more professional Mayor/Council it's the only game in town (what the gambler said about a rigged operation).

I can't argue with the recommendations of Sustainable Amherst, but I find it interesting the long-time Town Meeting members they did not endorse:  Media mogul Isaac BenEzra, landlord Richard Gold, Nonny Burack, Rob Kusner, Mary Wentworth to name a few. 

Matthew Cunningham-Cook (the UMass student who brought us the $15/hr Minimum Wage article slapped down by Town Meeting last week), also fails to garner an endorsement, which, after the recent debacle is more than understandable.

We do have a handful of other students running for Town Meeting, so in all likelihood some will be successful.  Of course Town Meeting drags on until June, so it will be interesting to check their attendance records after UMass lets out.  

Indiegogo fundraiser for Amherst Record Digital News

Amherst reinforces reputation

Amherst Town Meeting voted to pull the rug out from underneath our military in the field last night by supporting a "Bring the war dollars home" resolution, and since they also torpedoed the zoning change allowing for common sense development, the town is going to need to get money from somewhere besides overburdened property owners, who just last year approved a Proposition 2.5 Override.

The zoning defeat was simply a preemptive attack on The Gateway Project--a coalition between Umass, the Amherst Redevelopment Authority and the town that did not of course hinge on the zoning vote last night, but certainly was painted that way by NIMBY Town Meeting members.

Kind of like marching a herd of sheep through an enemy mine field to discover where the dangerous items are hidden. Unfortunately, by the time the Gateway Project goes before Town Meeting for a zoning vote, all the mines will be replanted--and then some.

Since the two-thirds required super majority only failed by a few votes (96-62) it would be interesting to calculate what a difference it could have made if the Conflict of Interest law applied to Town Meeting.

Pissing off a Umass Collegian columnist

Veterans Day: Umass remembers, and the Springfield Republican reports

Whiny to the bitter end

The Joint Capital Planning Committee voted 7-1 this morning to approve $3,153,200 in recommendation to the Town Manager that backtracked only slightly from last week's fireworks laden meeting, mainly to now include $20,000 for 16 Jones Library surveillance cameras and $10,000 for maintenance work at the town owned Hitchcock Center building.

Hitchcock Center

After the camera initiative was properly vetted by IT directory Kris Pacunas, the price had precipitously dropped from $60,000 to $20,000 and will certainly provide peace of mind for patrons made nervous by frisky teens frolicking in the unattended downstairs, or the homeless wandering in looking for a place to sleep.

Library Trustee Carol Gray took exception once again to cuts that were upheld: $150,000 for fire protection system and $15,000 for building insulation, which she claimed would return about $3,000 in annual energy savings, or a five-year payback. Although she neglected to factor in the $15,000 that was approved last year for insulation and never spent, thus the payback period is really ten years.

And of course being a former lawyer she held up the architectural study commissioned by Library Trustees that highlighted minor deficiencies in the current fire protection system suggesting the town would be liable for any injuries sustained in the (unlikely) event of a fire.

Ms. Gray also took a cheap swipe at $90,000 earmarked for planning studies split between two major projects:  Last fall "Form Based Zoning" failed to garner the two-thirds vote necessary (119-79) at Town Meeting--with many opponents saying the article required "more study"--that would have rezoned North Amherst center and the Atkins Corner in South Amherst.

And the Gateway Corridor Town Center rezoning study, a $40,000 item to bring Form Based Zoning to the commercial downtown and the contiguous corridor leading to our largest employer, UMass.

Former Library Trustee (Chair) Pat Holland, who was defeated last year because of her tag-team involvement with Ms. Gray in running off long time library Director Bonnie Isman, is running unopposed for the lone Amherst Redevelopment Authority seat in the April 3 election.

The ARA spearheaded, nurtured and delivered the Gateway Project plan over the past year-and-a-half, but will probably have little future involvement for Ms Holland to sabotage.

UMass, ARA, Town partnership leaps forward!

Today Chancellor Robert Holub signed a strategic agreement with the Town of Amherst and the Amherst Redevelopment Authority to greatly enhance the gateway to UMass, the state's flagship of higher education.

The agreement calls for a conveyance of property formerly knows as "frat row"-- a seedy collection of blighted buildings purchased by the University and demolished a few years ago. The Gateway Project will bring urban renewal to the neighborhood with a mixed used commercial development of higher end student housing and commercial business connecting the downtown with the University.

With the incoming Umass freshman class the largest in history this agreement will go a long way towards keeping Umass an attractive destination for students and faculty as well as boosting the downtown and Amherst's commercial tax base.


click link below to read agreement:

Agreement with Umass/ARA/Town

Fate of the Gateway

Nothing really new came out of last night's joint meeting between the Amherst Redevelopment Authority and the Amherst Planning Board: A vision of what the Gateway Corridor could be was presented, residents raised concerns and committee members took it all in.

Tonight at 5:00 PM, in the first back-to-back meeting in over twenty years, the ARA meets again to decide the critical issue of where to go from here. Do we bow out gracefully now that a "vision" has been articulated and let the town figure out how to proceed? Who will take up the negotiations with UMass for the former Frat Row--a signature piece of property that our consultant called a "catalyst" for positive change?

Tomorrow is July 1st--start of the new fiscal year. At this exceedingly late juncture we don't even know who will be running UMass/Amherst in the near future.

The retirement of Building Commissioner Bonnie Weeks will also delay the hiring of a new building code enforcement officer, so slum lords get a reprieve while owner occupied houses in residential neighborhoods will once again have to endure party houses when UMass students return, and the cycle resumes yet again.

"Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow..."

Build It! Just Not Anywhere Near Me

UMass Southwest = 5,5000 beds.  Originally a 6th tower was planned, but never built

Couldn't agree more with Fearing Street resident John Fox's column in today's Gazette:  Indeed UMass could do more with housing students within their confines even though they are already top three in the nation for sheltering students on campus (around 60%).

 Click to enlarge/read

I just find it interesting he highlights two private town center projects he vehemently opposed -- Kendrick Place and One East Pleasant Street -- declaring them not nearly big enough to satisfy demand and then points out Public Private Partnerships constructing housing on public (UMass) land is the best way to go.

Kendrick Place, with104 beds, opening next month

Ironically, when the Amherst Redevelopment Authority partnered with UMass to develop the former Frat Row into a glorious Gateway Project that would have provided ample student housing and commercial space in a tax-paying mixed-use project, Mr. Fox lead the charge to successfully scuttle it.

John Fox (rt) on the attack at ARA meeting December, 2010

But at least he will now support circumventing the Pacheco Law to allow a Public Private Partnership to build a substantial project somewhere on campus.

Of course should they choose the best location, the shovel-ready former Frat Row, he will once again fire up his war machine. 

Gateway Area.  Fearing & Phillips Streets on left with former Frat Row on right.  
Maybe it's time to build that 6th Southwest Tower?

ARA stays the Gateway course

Tonight the Amherst Redevelopment Authority voted unanimously to:

1. Adopt "the vision" put forth by our consultant for the Gateway Corridor
   
2. Continue to be the lead agency charged with realizing that vision
   
3. Request the Town Manager prioritize this project and provide town staff support

The emphasis will be narrowed to focus on the 2 acre former Frat Row currently owned by UMass--what Gianni Longo described as a "catalyst". And with the added good news that Robert Holub will continue as UMass Amherst Chancellor for another year, this ambitious signature project can now move forward with all due speed.

ACP consultant Gianni Longo

Chancellor Robert Holub

Inclusionary Zoning Strikes Out ... Again

Amherst Planning Board last night (like lambs to slaughter)

Last year at the very last minute the Planning Board pulled back their Inclusionary Zoning overhaul that would require across the board 10%  affordable units in any new housing project of 10 units or more.

They were reacting to concerns from the business community who complained it would make things especially arduous in the downtown or Village Centers where development costs are higher.

One good result was the town came up with Article 21, tax incentives to help alleviate the pain for developers who otherwise can't make the affordable unit requirement work.

Last night Town Meeting, considering it required a two-thirds vote, overwhelmingly rejected the Planning Board's two-years-in-the-making Inclusionary Zoning Article 22 by a 100 No to 88 Yes vote after 1.5 hours of sometimes snippy discussion.

Critics said it was unnecessary simply because the Planning Board was not correctly interpreting the current Inclusionary Zoning bylaw which trips the 10% affordable unit requirement whenever a Special Permit is required.

The Kendrick Place development (36 units) required two concessions -- an extra 10 feet of height and extra lot coverage -- but they were not considered major enough to trip the existing bylaw.

And of course this same scenario played out just up the road with the same developer's  One East Pleasant Street (80 units).

 Using future home of One East Pleasant as leasing office for Kendrick Place

As a result certain BANANA (Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything) types now consider the Planning Board to be made up of Robber Baron, pro-development hacks.

Will the Planning Board take another shot at appeasing the unappeasable next year?  Who could blame them if they do not.

Sure Article 21, the property tax breaks package, did pass because the unholy alliance of the BANANA/NIMBY crowd faltered.  But will that alone make a difference?  Probably not. 

Perhaps the best idea last night came from black sheep Town Meeting member Kevin Collins, who floated the sometimes-you-have-to-destroy-the-Village-in-order-to-save-it concept by suggesting we allow the town to fall below the 10% Subsidized Housing Index.

 Click to enlarge/read

That way any developer can come in and build pretty much whatever they want as long as it is 25% affordable.

Maybe now that town/gown relations seem to be at a high water mark, it's time to revive the Gateway Project. 

Gateway Area with former Frat Row (on right) shovel ready for a signature project

NIMBYs at the Gate(way)

John Fox on the attack at ARA meeting earlier this month.

So Umass neighbor John (crazy-like-a) Fox seems spoiling for a fight at every opportunity--even when he has to s-t-r-e-t-c-h it a bit in order to engage.

He attended the 12/15 zoning forum (fair enough, as it was advertised as a "pubic forum") and joined forces with other anti-development BANANAs: (Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone) to rail against anything remotely resembling progress--especially the Gateway Project, a once-in-a-generation joint enterprise between Umass, the town and the Amherst Redevelopment Authority, a quasi-state agency with a proven track record at urban redevelopment dating back 40 years.

And since the ARA did not attend the forum, Mr. Fox made sure to forward his 7-page diatribe to our entire 5-person committee (four elected by town voters and one appointed by the Governor) via Planning Director Jonathan Tucker, even though Mr. Fox has our individual email addresses.

Today's Springfield Republican article should answer what appears to be his central question asking where the "new" Town Manager John Musante stands on the this long overdue coalition/partnership with Umass, an entity where Mr. Fox was once employed.

Indeed his location to campus, only an underhand pitch away, must have been awfully convenient back then.

Mr. Fox purchased his home in December, 1983 when the total student population was 25,833-- not much more than the 27,569 hosted today. And if memory serves (since I was attending the University back then) the fashionable nickname at that time--deservedly so--was "Zoomass." An image the University has worked hard to change over the past decade, with good results.

So it's not like Mr. Fox can argue the real estate agent never told him about this giant entity that looms over his frontyard. And at that time "Frat Row"--at the entrance to his street--was in its absolute glory, with about 200 rowdy kids who loved to party hardy. Former "Frat Row", with depressing shadow cast by NIMBYs

Neither is it likely that this intimate close proximity to Umass has hurt his property value any, since Mr. Fox's humble abode is currently valued at $546,800 and he only paid $109,100 twenty-seven years ago when a dollar was worth 2.1 times what it is today, or $229,110 in current dollars. Not a bad ROI.

Last night Mr. Fox carried his cacophonous campaign to the final Select Board meeting of the year, where he submitted a petition (how very 60s of him) requesting the town stand down on spending $30,000 for a consultant to help facilitate the "visioning process"--a very long, involved public input period, which I'm sure Mr. Fox will take every advantage of to press his one-note protest song.

The ARA has never said student housing at Gateway would be "substantially" or "primarily" undergraduate housing. We are saying the University needs additional housing (undergrads, grads, faculty) and Amherst's downtown desperately needs an economic boost, and our anemic less-than-10% commercial tax base could use some reinforcements.

This mixed use, privately developed project substantially dresses up the main approach to Umass and will be--as Umass deputy chancellor Todd Diacon has stated many times--"a win win."

Umass gets upscale housing that will provide much needed competition to the local slum lords who take advantage of students by packing them into one-family houses in residential neighborhoods, while the town gets a much needed increase in the commercial tax base, and the downtown expands seamlessly into the heart of Umass via an attractive corridor.

The $30,000 consultant cost is not town tax money, it is ARA money. In fact, Amherst has no control over the ARA, although we do work closely together with the town for the common good--something these noisy neighbors should try sometime.



ACTV did not air live the first few minutes of Mr. Fox's diatribe. When they get around to rebroadcast, if they air the entire monologue, I will reedit.
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Disclaimer: Although I'm a longtime member of the ARA, Umass graduate, currently a Continuing Education student and 5th generation Amherst resident, I speak here, as I always do, strictly for myself (and for the hard-pressed taxpayers of this town) using that cherished American ideal known as the First Amendment.

Fox News

Top story disparages Umass undergrads and boxed story under it praises them. Fair-and-balanced indeed.

So almost 30 years ago I learned to grab a cheap headline by simply attending the venerable Amherst Select Board Monday night meetings to use the 6:15 Question Period as a bully pulpit.

And over the years, there would almost always be one of the five who would make the mistake of engaging me--His Lordship Mr Weiss (a signatory on the anti-Gateway petition) once referred to it as my "target practice".

Princess Stephanie has permanently squelched that possibility--with help from the new Open Meeting Law regulations-- by enacting a policy of not discussing anything at Public Comment that has not already been published in advance on the agenda. But obviously, you can still grab a cheap headline--and if it happens to be a slow news week in Amherst...

Amherst Media, formerly ACTV, did recently reair John Fox's full 11 minute diatribe last Monday night (missing half of it during the live broadcast) that in public speaking terms equaled 'War and Peace'--although obviously he's way more interested in war.

And you can certainly tell from his opening remarks that he is indeed a Washington lawyer. Sucking up to the Select Board and praising ARA chair John Coull who just happens to be Princess Stephanie's dad. Kind of like when a lawyer says "With all due respect" right before ripping into opposing counsel.

Although he did make an error of fact saying the Select Board works for "virtually nothing." They actually get paid a whopping $300 per year. In his 7-page diatribe to the Planning Board, extensively cited in this Select Board appearance, Mr. Fox trashes student undergrads:

"To put this in context of future undergraduate housing on Old Frat Row: for every 100 students, 52 can be expected to engage in Binge Drinking, and 28 can be expected to engage in Frequent Heavy Binge Drinking. In the case of 500 students, nearly 250 would be Binge Drinkers, and 140 would be Frequent Heavy Binge Drinkers."

Obviously statistics can be used in many ways: some skinhead member of the KKK, for instance, could easily use statistics showing racial or ethnic minority groups are disproportionately represented in the state and federal prisons, thus the ARA should ban minorities from applying for any housing erected on the Gateway.

The good news is because of the work of Campus and Community Coalition to End High-Risk Drinking This number of "frequent heavy binge drinkers" is actually down 20% from five years ago.

And as I recently highlighted, because of the economic impact of the fine increase to $300 for alcohol, nuisance house, and noise violations (at CCC urging) the rowdy, noisy party houses around Amherst have diminished.

But these NIMBYs will continue to make noise--lot's of it. And in a sense, it's the taxpayers who will pay that penalty.



Part two of his diatribe

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And as previously mentioned:
Disclaimer: Although I'm a longtime member of the ARA, Umass graduate, currently a Continuing Education student and 5th generation Amherst resident, I speak here, as I always do, strictly for myself (and for the hard-pressed taxpayers of this town) using that cherished American ideal known as the First Amendment.