Should The Setback Requirement For Archipelago’s Next Project Be Cut By 50 Percent?

Report On The Meeting Of The Amherst Historical Commission, June 23, 2021

The meeting was held via Zoom and was recorded.

Present 
Commissioners Jane Wald (Chair), Jan Marquardt, Pat Auth, Robin Fordham, Hetty Startup (There is currently one vacancy on the Commission; a quorum is four members.)

Staff: Ben Breger (Planning Department). Also: Kyle Wilson, representing development company Archipelago 

Charged with protecting the historic 1713 West Cemetery from the impacts of new construction, Commission members seemed confused over their role in the 11 East Pleasant Street approval process, but after much discussion (taking almost two hours), they narrowed their jurisdiction down to the disposition of the existing trees, fence, and rear yard setback. 

Although Marquardt opined, “We are the spokespeople for the people buried in the cemetery, I guess,” she questioned the impact of the required setback on profitability for the developer, with the reduction in the number of units the 20 foot setback would necessitate.. Much later in the discussion, Breger reminded the commissioners that they were not to act as mediators between developers and Town decision-makers, but to advise the Planning Board about conditions best for historic preservation.

Kyle Wilson of Archipelago, the developer, was present as staff outlined the recently revised design for the proposed mixed-use building at 11 East Pleasant Street. Principally, the interior spaces have been shifted around and the number of units reduced to increase the proposed rear yard setback from five feet to ten feet from the property line with the West Cemetery, although 20 feet is required by law.The existing setback is only two feet at the southeast corner. 

Fill will be added to reduce the five-foot drop in grade, from the cemetery line to the east wall of the building, to three feet, rather than using a retaining wall. In the revised plan, all parking was eliminated to create space for a one-bedroom unit as well as five studio apartments on the ground level. (This was not discussed by the Historical Commission.) 

There was also confusion about the location of the easterly lot line, which Wilson said is marked “very clearly” by two pins. A row of mature trees marks the lot line while a wrought iron fence is about 18 inches east of it. According to Tree Warden Alan Snow, these trees would be subject to too much root damage from heavy machinery and earth work for their continued viability. New plantings are proposed. See more photos of the cemetery property line here.

Wilson asked that the rear setback be ten feet since that is the requirement for the General Business zone.  Twenty feet is required wherever  the General Business zone abuts the General Residence zone in order to protect  residential properties from abutting businesses. Wilson contended that the  historic West Cemetery, where Black Civil War veterans, the Dickinson family, and other notables are buried, is not “residential,” so there is no need for this protection. He also contended that adhering to the required twenty-foot setback “inhibits the ability of the Town to build the housing it needs.” He told the Commission that the view from the cemetery of the rear areas of Archipelago’s East Pleasant Street buildings will be “enhanced.”

While Auth had difficulty envisioning the location of the lot line, Startup was “disturbed by correspondence received from Ira Bryck and the Chair of the Local Historic District Commission, Jennifer Taub, stressing the need to maintain at least twenty feet between the Cemetery and new construction.” Startup remarked that the West Cemetery is an important historical resource, and recalled that the loss of the Carriage Shops so that  One East Pleasant Street could be built there has been a significant loss to the Town. She also noted that nothing “replaces” the specimen trees that are there, and that the slope “seems very weird and the [water] run-off issue is still unresolved.” 

A member of the public said that the Commission should address facts required by the permit-granting authority to find that reducing the setback from twenty to ten feet in this mixed-use building “is not substantially more detrimental” than the previous storefronts at the site.

Fordham concluded that she strongly recommends abiding by the required twenty-feet setback, and ten feet would be the minimum. Members also asked that the developers help defray the costs involved in replacing the trees and moving the existing fence to the lot line. Not moving the fence would create a “no man’s land” where neither the Town nor the developer would feel responsible for its maintenance. They also recommended that the two sugar maple trees to the east of the fence be kept.

Jones Library Preservation Restriction
The Commission discussed the Jones Library preservation restriction that is required because  Community Preservation Act funds were used in 2011 and 2012 ($75,000 in FY11 and $113,000 in FY12) to repair the library’s roof and chimneys. When Jones Library, Inc. accepted the funds, it granted a preservation restriction for the Historical Commission to serve as agents of the Town to enforce its provisions . According to Breger, the restriction only applies to the exterior of the library , and the Commission would have jurisdiction over new additions (and streetscape) “only insofar as these changes impact the structural integrity and/or the view of the original 1928 portion of the Jones, if at all.”  With regard to the relevant content of the document over which they have jurisdiction, the Commission felt prepared to sign the final draft when available. (The Jones Library Trustees will consider it at their next meeting and present the finished document to the Historic Commission.)

Writers Walk
Breger announced that Writer’s Walk signs will be installed by June 26. The design and locations of the signs have been in progress for more than twenty years.