PLANNING BOARD APPROVES SPECIAL PERMITS FOR 314 AND 330 COLLEGE STREET

REPORT: PLANNING BOARD MEETING OF 4/29/20

The meeting was held virtually via Zoom webcast and was also broadcast on Channel 17 by Amherst Media. All Board members participated, as did Town Planner Christine Brestrup and Administrative Assistant Pam Field Sadler

Highlights

• Conducted public hearings for three special permits at 314 and 330 College Street and approved those permits
• Discussed the process by which the Town’s zoning bylaws will be revised and the possibility that the Planning Board might be excluded from participating in writing the revisions
• Reviewed upcoming projects that will soon come before the Board

Public Hearings for 314 and 330 College Street

Most of this meeting consisted of public hearings for a site plan review and two special permits requested by Paul Shumway for dividing the property at 314 and 330 College Street into two lots. This is the small shopping center containing Kelly’s restaurant and a flag lot to the north west with a mixed-use building consisting of a few stores and 12 apartments. The last site plan review was in 1998 and 1999, when the mixed-use building was permitted. Since then, the rear part of the lot and the mixed-use building have been rezoned from Commercial to Business–Village Center. It is now a single lot with three assessed parcels. Tom Reidy, Attorney for Bacon Wilson Associates, representing Shumway, argued that dividing the property in two, moving the lot line at an angle to maintain the allowed lot and building coverage, would enable Shumway to potentially sell one of the parcels. However, he maintained that there are no current plans to sell or alter either of the properties, and that these special permits would help the properties adhere to the current zoning. One of the special permits would nullify a previous special permit granted by the Zoning Board of Appeals in 1999.

The Board stipulated that all applicable conditions of the previous site plan review (SPR 99-04) remain in effect and that an easement be granted from the shopping strip to the mixed-use building along its west side (near Spirit Haus) if either parcel is sold. Planning Board member Janet McGowan worried that tenants of the apartments or the stores in the rear property could lose parking along that west easement if the property falls into other ownership. With the possible location of a recreational marijuana retailer in the vacant storefront previously occupied by Monkey Business, parking could become an issue.  She abstained on the site plan review, which passed 6-0-1. The special permits passed unanimously.

Updating the Town’s Zoning Bylaw

Brestrup reported on the recent Community Resources Committee (CRC) meeting. The Councilors on the CRC, like the members of the Planning Board, are discussing a process for updating the Zoning Bylaw. They proposed creating a separate group consisting of Councilors, Planning Board members, members of the business community, and ZBA members. New bylaws would require the approval of the Planning Board and the Town Council. McGowan voiced concerns about interference with the work of the Zoning Subcommittee of the Planning Board. Planning Board Chair Christine Gray-Mullen and Member Maria Chao emphasized that the process is still being developed.

Proposal for Mural on Michelson Building Withdrawn

Planning Board member Michael Birtwistle reported that the Design Review Board heard a plan from the Business Improvement District for a mural on the back of the Michelson building, but the proposal was withdrawn after less than favorable reviews by the Design Review Board.

Upcoming Work

Several items are slated to come before the Planning Board in May.  On May 6, more refined plans for the Kendrick Park playground will be presented. Public comment will be accepted. The final  Planning Board vote on the plan will be May 20, so the Town Council can evaluate it before the June 1 deadline. Also on May 6, the consultants for the 40R overlay zoning plan will present a proposed zoning bylaw amendment and suggestions for design guidelines. 

Other upcoming applications include a request by Colonial Village Apartments to use playground equipment from the North Village apartments, which are scheduled to be demolished this summer. The All About Learning Childcare Center on Pomeroy Lane wants to expand its play area. And Amherst Media will soon present its plans for a new headquarters, after getting approval from the Local Historical Commission and a favorable review from the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission.

 The meeting was adjourned at 9:10 PM. The next Planning Board meeting will be May 6 at 6:30 PM.