Zoning Subcommittee’s Work To Be Rolled Into Planning Board Meetings

Joint Meeting Considers How To Move Forward With Proposed Zoning Changes

Report On The Joint Meeting Of The Planning Board And The Community Resources Committee (2/3/21)

The meeting was held via Zoom and simulcast on Amherst Media Channel 17. A recording of the meeting can be found here 

Participating: Planning Board members: all
Community Resource Committee (CRC) members: all
Staff: Planning Director Christine Brestrup, Building Commissioner Rob Morra, Administrative Assistant Pam Field-Sadler

Planning Board Chair Jack Jemsek ceded leadership of this meeting to Community Resources Committee (CRC) Chair Mandi Jo Hanneke (at large). 

According to Hanneke, the goal of the meeting was to have Planning Director Christine Brestrup and Building Commissioner Rob Morra report on the current work plan for revising the Zoning Bylaw and update members of the Planning Board and the CRC  on the collaboration between the Planning Department, Planning Board, Zoning Subcommittee (ZSC), and CRC to develop and implement changes in zoning that were proposed by the CRC and adopted by the Town Council at the January 4 Council meeting.

Hanneke also wanted to begin discussion of zoning and zoning changes in the Limited Business Zone (B-L). However, Planning Board member Janet McGowan objected because these had not been included on the posted agenda, and as a result, the public — especially those who would be directly affected by B-L changes — would not be present. Hanneke and Councilor Steve Schreiber (District 4) countered, saying that the agenda listed “Zoning Changes,” so further notice was unnecessary. Planning Board member Johanna Neumann agreed with Hanneke and Schreiber; member Andrew MacDougall felt, like McGowan, that the topic had not been clearly articulated. Hanneke stressed that these were all just “preliminary” discussions and decisions would not be made yet.

The CRC has developed 11 zoning priorities and is now working on a comprehensive housing policy. The Planning Department and Zoning Subcommittee are researching the effects that the zoning priorities would have on the Town as a whole and especially on the most directly affected neighborhoods. The ZSC has met three times in the past month (see here, here and here). 

Brestrup presented the list of  zoning priorities from the Town Council, and Morra presented the priorities of the Planning Department. The Council requested that the first set of  draft re-written  bylaws  be presented by March 15, but Morra said that important data, e.g. the effects of eliminating Footnote m and rewriting the definition of “apartment,” could be ready by March 9 but actual draft re- written bylaws would probably not be ready until June. 

According to Morra, staff in the Planning Department believe it is appropriate to explore inclusionary zoning as a way to increase the number of affordable units in Town. They also want to specify the types and percentage of commercial use in mixed-use buildings. In addition, they are also working on recodification of the Zoning Bylaw to have a reformatted, cleaner document that will be easier to use. He plans to give a preliminary presentation of the work plan for cleaning up by Bylaw to the February 9 CRC meeting and a work plan for making changes in the Bylaw at the March 9 CRC meeting.

Shalini Bahl-Milne (District 5) said it is important to talk to the public about what kind of housing is desirable, since the purported goal of the zoning changes is to increase housing in town. Hanneke stressed that the CRC’s list of priorities are not “set in stone” and that the CRC will take the advice of the Planning Department and Planning Board on the best way to achieve the goal of increasing the amount of housing. 

Hanneke, Jemsek, and ZSC Chair Maria Chao recently discussed how not to overburden the Planning Department with attendance at meetings of all three groups because it is interfering with their ability to do their work. However, Dorothy Pam (District 3) said that the tenor of each of the three groups is quite different and she would hate to lose the input of one. Planning Board member Doug Marshall agreed. He said that the tone of the ZSC is more informal, more of a discussion working on the modeling of specific changes. He said he has blocked out time for the ZSC and Planning Board meetings. Brestrup stated that the Planning staff finds the work of the ZSC useful, but they also want to be involved. It makes more sense for them to do the work, instead of the ZSC..

Jemsek then suggested that, since five of the seven members of the Planning Board are also on the ZSC, it might make sense to temporarily suspend ZSC meetings and roll the work of the ZSC into the Planning Board meetings, devoting 60 to 90 minutes of each Planning Board meeting to zoning priorities. In order to do this, the Planning Board would meet weekly for February and March. This would make fewer meetings than having a weekly ZSC meeting and twice monthly Planning Board meetings, but would not be less total time. Members of the Planning Board were agreeable to this.

In public comment, resident Pam Rooney, a former member of the Planning Board, noted that people who are interested in zoning have no way of knowing which meetings to attend. She recommended that the ZSC and Planning Department should have active discussions on the specifics of potential zoning changes, and proposed changes should be presented at a public hearing before being voted on by the Council. She said that the Council should direct what needs to be done but should not do the actual work. Hanneke said she hopes for additional joint meetings between the CRC and Planning Board. Also, she thought the CRC meetings could be scheduled at times that are more convenient for the public to attend, instead of 2 to 4 p.m. on Tuesdays, as it currently does.

The joint meeting was adjourned at 9:10 p.m.