Opinion: Ball Lane Affordable Housing Is an Important Addition to North Amherst
Layout of proposed community housing project at Ball Lane. The project will construct 30-32 homes of which 20 will be reserved for low income tenants. CPAC allocated $750,000 to support the project.
By Stephen King and Meg Gage
We urge the residents of Amherst to join us in supporting the proposed Valley CDC project “Amherst Community Homes,” to build 30 homes to be owned by first-time home-owners on the parcel on the corner of Montague and Pulpit Rill Roads. We live across Montague Road from the site and also own the home on Pulpit Hill Road, also across from the site.
There are many, many reasons to support this project which we are confident you have heard. Amherst needs more affordable housing particularly for home-ownership; the building design is based on sustainable development principles and passive solar PV systems are anticipated; resale restrictions will assure properties won’t be flipped for profit; a large part of the property will remain open with opportunities for community gardens.
We are delighted with all of these features. However our enthusiasm is also rooted in how wonderful this project will be for North Amherst. While almost all parts of Amherst are struggling to maintain affordable family neighborhoods in the face of speculation and a rental market that is off the charts, North Amherst has been hit harder than most. North Amherst abuts the north end of campus and is the site of ten apartment complexes and entire streets that are almost entirely rentals. Our North Amherst community will be greatly enhanced by 30 additional families who own their homes and aren’t going anywhere.
Furthermore, North Amherst is a part of town that welcomes affordable housing. We are proud to be the home of the Survival Center. Of course, there is never complete unanimity, and some people are more directly affected than others. But generally, we are a very friendly neighborhood, and will welcome these families to our neighborhood.
Furthermore, it is a terrific part of town for families. We have the Mill River Recreation Park with free tennis courts, a town pool and playground, extensive trails, the burgeoning Mill District, a post office and wonderful library with a new addition featuring a community room. Many of us North Amherst long-timers’ kids learned to read in that library! And we have a robust neighborhood association that builds community and helps residents connect to town issues they care about. This is a terrific neighborhood for these future homeowners!
The public can submit comments on the project to the Planning Department at watchillar@amherstma.gov.
Steve King (steveinamherst47@gmail.com) and Meg Gage (meginamherst@gmail.com) are residents of North Amherst.
Thank you for this support and for letting residents know how to voice theirs as well!
We have to make sure that the State approves the maximum of 70% Local Preference!
The lottery is open to anyone living in a Qualified Census District and all but the two Amherst districts are in gateway cities in eastern Mass. The need for middle income, workforce housing in Amherst is critical. This program is the only one that supports home ownership.
Amherst has more than 13% affordable units while 78% Mass. municipalities have <10%.
We continue to invest in affordable housing while towns around us: South Hadley, Ludlow, the towns of the regional school district. Hadley providing much needed elderly housing is in “safe harbor”.
Without the maximum local preference we will fall further in the hole.
As a North Amherst neighbor to this proposed project I agree with Stephen and Meg. I do however want to state here as I have in the feedback portal for the planning department that the town needs to earmark funds and commit to immediate major pedestrian safety and traffic flow changes to North Amherst center. Not only in preparation for an increase in car traffic and young family pedestrian traffic related to this project, but because it is long overdue.
If you have ever sat for 15 minutes and then navigated the clusterf**k intersection of Pine, Meadow, N. Pleasant, Montague Rd(Rt 63) and Sunderland Roads mornings and afternoon and after work evening time you can understand the challenge. Those of us who live here and need to navigate through this part of town to get to work, school, or shopping multiple times a day have major concerns that have yet to be addressed in any long term plans for this part of town.
Add to this more vibrant businesses, an active library, young families with kids, bikes, more cars entering and exiting the main streets and we have a potential tragedy in the making. We have been witness to quite a few near misses, accidents and deaths due to poor visibility, insufficient traffic flow controls and safe pedestrian and bike options.
We are excited to welcome young families and to increase the diversity of our beloved North Amherst community and are expecting the town to invest in the health and safety measures necessary to safeguard all of us.
My boyfriend and I live in South Hadley. We are elderly and both on disability. I am 65 years old. My boyfriend is 53 years old. We struggle to make ends meet every month. We are not living in low income housing. Are we eligible for one of the homes to be built in Amherst?