OPINION: TOWN COUNCIL FOR NOOBS: A CREATIVE SOLUTION TO SOCIAL GATHERINGS

DISTRICT ONE CONSTITUENTS’ MEETING (5/27/20)

After nearly two months away, I’m returning to my coverage of the Council. I had little choice about taking the time off. As the parent of two young children whose school was suddenly cancelled, I have had to significantly increase the amount of time I spend each week on childcare. This has mostly been joyful, although there have been plenty of days when one of us — usually me—has been unbearably cranky. It’s easy to forget how much patience it takes to spend all day, multiple days a week, with a five-year-old and a nine-year-old.

Although I’m not the primary breadwinner in our family, I still have work commitments, and had two writing projects to finish. Even with my mother-in-law — who is in her seventies and has severe asthma — bravely and lovingly watching the kids twice a week, I had no extra time to write for the Indy or do other volunteer work. 

Thanks to the Indy, I’ve been able to keep one eye cocked on the Council. I was happy to sit on the sidelines during the kerfuffle to replace Eric Nakajima on the School Committee, and happy to see the wage theft bylaw passed. Otherwise, it seems as if the Council has been relatively quiet, although at least one big thing has been percolating behind the scenes: a new zoning bylaw that would temporarily allow restaurants and other local businesses to better cope with COVID-19.

D1 Meets via Zoom
I hate online meetings. Who likes them? Since we have no choice right now, Sarah Swartz and Cathy Schoen, the Councilors for District One, where I live, held their bi-monthly meeting with constituents virtually in Zoom’s prison-like grid. The three at-large Councilors also appeared, although they were largely silent, as did Council President Lynn Griesemer. 

To avoid the Zoom bombing that had happened in several earlier on-line Council meetings, participants had to register with their name and email. Only the Councilors and Town staff were visible onscreen. Town staff tightly controlled the audience’s ability to participate, allowing one person at a time to unmute and ask their question. This worked well enough, although it was alienating not to know who else was watching, or even how many people were watching.

General Concerns
An audience member asked whether the big capital projects in town were still on track. Schoen and Griesemer said that the timetable for the elementary school project has not been affected by COVID-19, nor has the library, although both will have to be content with reduced money in Town for capital expenses. They said that the renovation of the North Amherst Library, which will be paid for by an anonymous donor, is also proceeding, and designs will be presented to the public soon.

Several people asked whether 40R zoning was still being considered for the North Amherst village center. Schoen said that while North Amherst may have been vaguely considered at one point, currently only two sections of downtown are being studied in depth for 40R.

Nicola Usher, who is on the board at the Survival Center, raised concerns about people who are homeless and have nowhere indoors that they can go during the day, now that the Jones Library and other public places are closed. She noted that even finding a publically accessible bathroom in Town is difficult. Schoen and designer Lumilla Pavlova-Gillham, who was in the audience, discussed the possibility of having self-sanitizing public toilets, which have been used in Europe. Schoen noted how expensive these were. Pavlova-Gillham pointed out that such expenses could potentially be baked into big capital projects like the Jones Library.

I asked about people’s fear about congregating now that restrictions on public gatherings are being loosened. Even if we reopen our stores and restaurants, I wondered if the public will come. Griesemer responded with the opposite concern: that once we resume public life people would turn out in droves and not follow social distancing guidelines. She said that the re-opening of the Amherst Farmers’ Market this Saturday would be a test, and that if people can’t “behave” (meaning: follow the CDC’s guidelines for social distancing), it will be shut down again.

A Creative Solution to Get the Local Economy Going
The Council has been working on Article 14, a creative solution for temporary zoning changes that could help make people more comfortable going out to eat and shop. Proposed by Town Manager Paul Bockelman, this new  zoning bylaw would temporarily relax existing zoning regulations by allowing businesses to expand their operations into public ways and private properties for outdoor seating and display. This would allow restaurants and stores to operate beyond the restrictions that the state will likely place on the number of indoors patrons.

In the current draft of the bylaw, businesses could apply to the Town for such operations, and the Town would be compelled to answer within ten business days. The zoning changes would be temporary, lasting only for 180 days. Councilors said that there were a number of details to be hammered out, including especially alcohol sales, which are regulated by the state. 

The Planning Board and the CRC will hold a joint hearing on the article on June 10 at 6:30. It will appear before the full council for discussion on June 15th, and will likely come to a vote at their meeting on June 29th. If it does, according to Hanneke, it will go into effect on July 13.