And Looking Pretty

 

Callery pear, aka Pyrus calleryana

Three new large cedar tree boxes, complete with Callery pear trees, were installed this morning along Main Street from in front of Town Hall up to South Pleasant Street, significantly brightening the heart of downtown Amherst.

 Let's hope they don't obscure UMass football banners

The Business Improvement District paid for the boxes ($500 each) and the town provided the trees and people power to install them.

The hardy ornamental trees blossom in the spring, participate in fall foliage and produce only small, hard fruit that doesn't leave a squishy mess on the sidewalk to attracts bees. 

The Retreat Surrenders

 And so they did

The Retreat, a controversial student housing development proposed for the 147 acre woodlands of northeast Amherst, is no more -- killed by protracted battles with organized neighborhood resistance and quite simply the high per unit cost of development.

 

Letter hand delivered to Town Clerk on Friday from Landmark Properties

The Planning Board did not seem overly enthusiastic about granting all the variances required as part of the Definitive Subdivision Plan for 123 lots, which would have housed 641 tenants -- all of them UMass students.

UMass is the #1 employer in town and #2 property owner but because they are an educational institute pay no property taxes. The town assessor had projected the private development would have paid almost $400,000 in property taxes annually if built. 

Landmark Properties had a Purchase & Sale agreement with W.D. Cowls for $6.5 million, but only put down $50,000 which is non refundable.  In addition they have done upwards of $1 million in due diligence site work leading up to the Planning Board hearings.  

Cinda Jones will now pursue other development opportunities with the improved property.

Is nine too many?

110 Logtown Road

The occupancy capacity of the little house at 110 Logtown Road,  a one family unit which is limited by a generation-old town zoning bylaw to no more than "four unrelated occupants," comes up for discussion at a Zoning Board of Appeals hearing Thursday night.

The landlord and tenants are appealing a Notice of Violation, "Cease & Desist" order issued by Amherst Building Inspector Jon Thompson in mid-July.  If the ZBA overrules the Building Inspector the proposal for a waiver of the 4 person limit will then proceed to the Planning Board as part of a Site Plan Approval.

At less than 1,250 square feet of finished space the house is kind of small for even four people, let alone the request for nine.

The main concern in a "college town" with increasing density per unit of housing is that it will result in "college aged youth" negatively impacting a residential neighborhood with loud noise, inappropriate activities children should not be exposed to, and general unsightliness with housekeeping bringing down property values.

But since these particular youth are involved with farming, the usual negative neighborhood fallout is probably not going to happen.

Still, that house is awful small for nine people.

Click to enlarge/read

It would help of course if the building owner, Onesta Properties, had a better reputation.

 

What A Difference 1 Year Makes

AFD at Kennedy Dorm for ETOH female

The exciting thing about living in a "college town" is every year around this time we absorb a tidal wave of new exuberant youths making Amherst their home for 7.5 months out of the year over the next four years.

The not so exciting thing is the learning curve involved with them fitting in.

Last year (9/6/13) between 6 PM and 7 AM Friday-into-Saturday-morning Amherst Fire Department transported 7 "college aged youth" from UMass for "substance abuse".  This past Friday (9/5/14) into Saturday morning, one year later, AFD transported 13! 

And another 3 transports from just off-campus that in all likely hood were UMass students.


So why the dramatic difference? 

This year (9/5/14) the average temperature between the hours of 11 PM and 1:30 AM, when the majority of ETOH calls occurred, was 23 degrees higher than last year (75 vs 52 degrees).  Warmer weather brings out the herds to roam the streets in search of a party.

And beer does not help with hydration.

Even with four extra firefighters paid for by UMass to cover the peak weekend demand, we still had to rely on surrounding fire departments five times.

Like for instance the cyclist who crashed his bike on North Pleasant Street and sustained a serious head injury.  Northampton FD transported him to Baystate Critical Care unit in Springfield.

 Cyclist down North Pleasant Street (awaiting ambulance) 12:45 AM

How many more warm weekends can we look forward to before winter sets in?  How many more seriously injured citizens will have to wait for an out-of-town ambulance to arrive?

   AFD Weekend Run Summary 9/5/14

 Left column humidity, right column temperature

Hot Child In The City (Running Wild ... )

North Pleasant Street near UMass 12:43 AM

So yes, as with much of rowdy student behavior the weather -- sunny, hot and clear -- was a contributing factor in the mayhem unleashed in the Friday overnight.

But I have to assume that all the "college aged youth" transported to the hospital during the overnight had plenty of days in their own hometown like yesterday .. pretty much all summer long.

 AFD @ Washington Dorm (freshmen housing) 11:15 PM for intoxicated male

But mix in the first weekend or two of being away from parental supervision for the first time in their lives, and throw together many thousands in that same ark (without benefit of Noah) and you have a volatile reaction bordering on explosive.

Around 12:40 PM a cyclist was down in the center of the road on busy North Pleasant Street which cuts through the heart of campus, unconscious and barely breathing.

Original reports stated a car vs bicyclist, hit and run.  But upon investigation, although the cyclist may have been trying to avoid a car, he was not hit by a vehicle, only the center of the road.

With his head. And he was not wearing a helmet.

 AFD @ UMass Visiters Center parking lot for intoxicated male 12:04 AM

Now pay attention:  Due to call volume -- MOST of it alcohol related -- an ambulance had to be dispatched from Northampton Fire Department (2nd one within an hour), thus causing a delay for his transport to Baystate Critical Care unit in Springfield.

Yes, AFD Engines 1 and 2 were on the scene sooner (Engine 1 running at paramedic level and Engine 2 first on scene operating at "first responder level"), so he had good care from AFD ... but with a serious head injury you really need the level of care provided by a trauma unit ASAP.

AFD on scene Kennedy Dorm (freshmen housing) for intoxicated 17 year old female 12:12 AM

In all AFD had to rely on "mutual aid" ambulances five times during those bewitching hours before and after midnight.  All them dispatched to UMass, our flagship of higher education.

Meanwhile, Amherst taxpayers are left holding the bag:  In the short term, for an ambulance to arrive from a surrounding town for a family emergency; and in the l-o-n-g term for town officials to finally step up and properly staff our Public Safety Departments. 

 

APD on scene large Frat party North Pleasant Street 12:30 AM

FG360° SHOUT-OUT TO AMHERST FIRE + POLICE, DISPATCH + UMPD FOR AN OUTSTANDING JOB LAST NIGHT | FG360 ADMINS
— FIREGROUND360° (@FIREGROUND360) September 6, 2014

Hot Time @ UMass/Amherst

 Union activists marching around Whitemore Administration building

A couple hundred union employees took a loud march around the UMass campus today at noon starting from the usual rallying point, The Student Union, to the usual endpoint, Whitmore Administration Building, and then back to the Student Union.

 Protesters did not enter Whitmore Admin building (like in the good old days)

Apparently five campus unions are displeased over the summer-long negotiations with Amherst's #1 employer.

Branding Miss Emily

Dickinson Homestead built 1813.  Sign will be moved forward closer to sidewalk and enlarged

The Amherst Planning Board voted 6-1 earlier this week to waive restrictions due to "compelling reasons of public convenience, public safety, aesthetics, or site design" for the Emily Dickinson Homestead Museum and Evergreens estate next door (owned by Miss Emily's brother Austin) to allow additional signs that can be placed closer to a sidewalk than 30" and higher than the 48" regulations. 

Large new sign to left of fence pillar, westerly most end of property

The one dissenting voter, Rob Crowner, thought the signage change required a Special Permit from the Planning Board and therefor would mean the Museum has to refile an application.

Executive Director Jane Wald described the signage as a way for the Museum -- birthplace of our most famous resident -- to "refresh its branding and logo."  

Additionally the signage will more clearly delineate to visitors (15,000 annually) the distinction between the Dickinson Homestead and the Evergreens next door, that together occupy three acres just at the edge of town center.

 Large new sign between traffic light pole and fire hydrant easterly most end of property

Two large signs will act as bookends on the east and west ends of the properties with the other three smaller signs replacing those located along the fence that runs parallel to Main Street.

As part of Site Plan Review (which allowed the Planning Board to "waive" signage rules) the PB also approved drainage work and the addition of a "chiller unit" located out of public view behind the garage on the north end of the property.

The Dickinson Museum will benefit by the addition of a new Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning system and the installation of a fire suppression system, to significantly protect the building, which is so historic it's practically sacred.

The Evergreens, built 1856

The Evergreens too will see physical improvements in the form of exterior painting and woodwork repair, including new gutters, all of which were approved by the Dickinson Local Historic District Commission.

The total budget for these improvements comes to $1.5 million.  The Museum recently received a $380,000 grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund as well as a $380K matching grant from Amherst College. 

The balance will be raised by private fundraising and additional support from Amherst College.

The Evergreens from above just west of Dickinson Homestead