Shock and awe campaign

A couple hours after hearing Chief Livingstone report on the effectiveness of the bylaw fine increase for noise and alcohol violations, Select Board Chair Stephanie O'Keeffe floated another potentially potent weapon in the war on inappropriate behavior: license review.

After all, she points out, the Amherst Select Board members are all duly sworn in by the state as "liquor commissioners" so perhaps it's time to hold businesses responsible for activities that promote bad behavior.

Ten years ago when bars (the same two she is now referencing, one of them under different management) flagrantly violated the new controversial smoking ban and were laughing off $50 tickets for infractions, the Select Board threatened to suspend common victullar (food handling) or liquor licenses to those businesses not getting the message.

Compliance quickly followed and is now the accepted norm statewide.



The Bully comes out swinging

Horse sense

Kira brushes Dreama

Jada feeds Dreama

Time to go back to the farm

Civic minded Muddy Brook Farm runs a "Horse lovers club" at the Crocker Farm Elementary School about a half mile up the road from the farm on Wednesday afternoons when school usually lets out at 1:20 PM. Great way to constructively occupy the kids for an hour.

Capture the flag

Perhaps the Select Board should have figured it out when not a single citizen bothered to enter the "design an official Amherst flag" contest last November and only with extra PR outreach did they manage a hand full of designs.

Obviously Alisa Brewer is tiring of the typical Amherst process for getting things done. Now she can appreciate how the typical entrepreneur feels when trying to open a business in Amherst, only to get exhausted jumping through all the hoops.
The Children's Memorial Flag will fly once again at Town Hall in April under the, umm, UN flag.

Flags are powerful symbols--for good (Old Glory) or evil (Nazi swastika). This "contest" is indeed a telling symbol of 'All Things Amherst'.




For a better view of all six entries click this link

E-x-p-a-n-d-i-n-g Amherst

Barnes, Lincoln W., 1879-1966, "West side of North Pleasant St. near Amity St.," in Digital Amherst, Item #767, http://www.digitalamherst.org/items/show/767 (accessed March 22, 2011).

After a slight dip in population from 35,229 in 1990 down to 34,874 in 2000--the first decline since 1780--Amherst came back with a bang in the recently released 2010 census with a healthy population gain of 8.44%, bringing us to a historic high of 37,819.

That population resides in an estimated 9,513 housing units with 45.8% of those (4,073) owner-occupied, well under the national average of 66.9% and 54.2% (4,829) renter-occupied, well above the national average of 33.1%.

No wonder our neighborhoods need stabilization.

The ebb and flow of Amherst's population (especially the rental market) is of course closely tied to students, meaning mainly UMass--which also saw a slight decline in student population from 24,474 in 1990 down to 23,570 in 2000. But now at a historic high of 27,269 with plans for growth in the thousands over the next few years.

And they will have to live somewhere.

The battle for peace (and quiet)

Amherst Police Chief Scott Livingstone, a 30+ year veteran of the APD, went before the illustrious Select Board last night to present an updated intelligence report on the impact of various town bylaws now being used as a tool to suppress outrageous late night behavior fueled by alcohol and resulting in property damage, ugly debris, lost sleep for anxious neighbors and an emotional reason for boards and committees to reject desperately needed development of any kind.

Last year Amherst Town Meeting, at the request of the Campus Community Coalition, increased the fines for the 1st offense on noise, unlicensed kegs, open containers, and the ultimate weapon--nuisance house--to $300. And yes officers can double up on the citations (noise + nuisance house = $600 per responsible party) if the perps are truly outrageous.

Click photo to enlarge/read

The most notable impact of the bylaw fine increase is in the "open container" category, which has resulted in a 16% decrease in citations and a general feeling that incidents of outright public drinking are on the decline, also reflected by a 40% decrease in fines for unlicensed kegs.
But you would think in this day and age a rational person of age should not have to be told (or punished for) walking or driving around in public while consuming alcohol.

The other major categories--"noise" and "nuisance house"--have seen a distinct increase in citations issued over last year from when the fines were far lower.

But the Chief pointed out that it is not necessarily a dramatic increase in occurrences, but more that the town now has the tools to combat this unacceptable behavior via heavier fines, which at $300 are worth taking time to issue. Over $100,000 worth over the past six months.

General public "calls for service" on noise and party violations increased by 35%, but that too could be a result of publicity about the issue: reporting parties now know that something significant will actually get done in response to their call.

And the fines save police time because officers can write a ticket quickly whereas an arrest--the kind with handcuffs--can take an officer off the street for a "considerable" time (5 minutes vs. one hour). Thus officers can come into contact with more violators, deal with them in less time and be available to "handle more serious calls for service."
Yes, the fines are being paid. Chief Livingstone reports (to his surprise) that 50% of the tickets are paid almost immediately and so far 100% of the tickets appealed to the Clerk Magistrate have been upheld. Unpaid tickets eventually work their way through the system and will inevitably result in an arrest warrant--not the kind of thing you want hanging over your head for a lifetime.

As Sir Winston once said: "Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."





Chief Livingstone's full report

The Mass Daily Collegian reports (to the target audience)

Party house of the weekend

Once again a unit at Rolling Green Apartments, a generation old complex a fair amount of townies call home out on the Amherst/Belchertown border, is our winner. This time #202. According to police narrative: "Loud Party. Loud voices upon arrival, numerous responses here. Town Noise Bylaw citation issued to resident, 20 year old Kanha Sinha."

And I think I'm going to expand my award to include Party House in the making. My first winner is 655 Main Street. According to police logs: "Reporting Party (neighbor) came into lobby to speak with an officer regarding trash and a junk car parked at 655 Main Street. RP also advised us of loud parties from the college students at the listed location. RP was explained the options for calling in noise complaints and the potential for violations of the nuisance house bylaw. RP advised he may call Health Department as well for the trash violation."
655 Main Street (back view)

Side view

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