University Drive Overlay District Gets Mixed Reviews from Town Council

Report on the Meeting of the Amherst Town Council, September 23, 2024, Part 2

This meeting was held in hybrid format and was recorded.

Present
Lynn Griesemer (President, District 2), Mandi Jo Hanneke, Andy Steinberg, Ellisha Walker (at large), Freke Ette and Cathy Schoen (District 1), Pat DeAngelis (District 2), George Ryan and Hala Lord (District 3), Pam Rooney and Jennifer Taub (District 4), and Ana Devlin Gauthier and Bob Hegner (District 5). Absent: George Ryan (District 3).

Staff: Paul Bockelman (Town Manager) and Athena O’Keeffe (Clerk of the Council)

A plan to allow more dense development along University Drive was referred to the Planning Board and Community Resources Committee (CRC) for public hearings to be held within 65 days. The recommendations of those bodies will be brought back to the full council for a vote within 21 days of the close of the hearings. 

Senior Planner Nate Malloy presented the concept of an overlay zone on University Drive from Amity Street to Route 9 that the Planning Board has been refining for the past year. The proposed addition to the Zoning Bylaw allows for mixed-use buildings in that area to be six stories high and have no specified parking requirements if 75% of the street-facing area on the first floor is nonresidential and the developer submits a parking plan that justifies the adequacy of the parking provided.

The aim of the amendment is to increase housing available near the university and downtown without diminishing the commercial importance of the area. If accepted, mixed-use developments in the overlay district could be approved by the Planning Board in a site plan review. Other types of development would need to comply with existing zoning. Wetlands protections and stormwater management guidelines would still apply to all construction. All developments with ten or more units will be required to make 12% of the units affordable to comply with the Inclusionary Zoning bylaw. Because the proposed bylaw increases housing, Malloy thought that it would require only a majority vote of the council to pass, not the two-thirds usually required for zoning changes. 

Malloy said that the wide roadway and generous setback allows for taller buildings without creating a “canyon effect.” He also hoped that the access-way parallel to University Drive would become a pedestrian pathway. The hope is that increased development in the area would attract families and faculty members, as well as students. Social dormitories (essentially private dormitories) are not allowed in this area, and although the town cannot control the mix of unit size in mixed-use buildings, he noted that Barry Roberts’ proposed development at 422 Amity Street has a mix of apartments from one- to three-bedroom units. Malloy felt that the developers could decide what the optimal mix of apartment size should be. “This is a great opportunity to address housing and economic development,” he said. The Planning Board is also looking at other areas of town to create more housing. 

Councilors were not as enthusiastic. Cathy Schoen (District 1) asked if the overlay district includes the Big Y Plaza, CVS, and the post office, which are heavily used and easy for students living in the UMass dorms to walk to. “We need housing, but we need to eat, too,” she said. She worried that new housing in the overlay district would put  some of the commercial space that is also an asset to the town at risk. Malloy acknowledged that the proposed overlay does include those properties, but hoped that the population increase would increase the use of Big Y. He said, “The idea is not to lose Big Y or those commercial areas, but to get more people using them.”

Schoen was not sold on this argument. She countered that supermarkets are a low margin business, and an opportunity to develop a large residential building with a higher rate of return might be attractive.

Bob Hegner (District 5) thought that any housing developed there would be designed for students and said, “If all we do here is provide housing for students, the businesses there will serve students, not the community as a whole.” He was also concerned with parking, saying that developers are required to provide a parking plan, but that doesn’t guarantee adequate parking for the commercial and residential space needed.

Mandi Jo Hanneke (at large) objected to the overlay plan not allowing apartment buildings without commercial space. She said that some studies have concluded that Amherst is already “saturated” with commercial space. She added that some commercial property owners are having problems filling their spaces. For her,  a requirement that 75% of the street-facing façade is nonresidential was not reasonable. 

Jennifer Taub (District 4), however, spoke up  for existing commercial businesses on University Drive, such as the Hampshire Bicycle Exchange, and said that the non-residential space requirement should be kept, and could be in exchange for allowing a sixth floor or similar concession. She also hoped that developers would take into consideration the added income from an extra floor of units and offer better rents for businesses. When Malloy said that the parking area in front of Big Y could be developed for housing, Taub pointed out it not only serves the Big Y (and Good Will) but the CVS, and  small businesses.

Council President Lynn Griesemer (District 2) also worried about losing Big Y to more profitable development. She noted that Big Y is the only supermarket in Amherst. Pat DeAngelis (District 2) agreed and worried that Amherst could become a food desert. She said that Whole Foods is too expensive for many people, and that there were rumors that Stop N Shop planned to close several stores, which would leave Amherst with no large supermarkets nearby. Schoen recommended that the CRC carve the Big Y property out of the overlay proposal.

The council voted 12-0 (with one absent) to refer the overlay proposal to the CRC and Planning Board, with a public hearing to be scheduled within 65 days.

Primer and Public Forum on the Master Plan
The council meeting was preceded by the annual public forum on the Master Plan required by the charter. Outgoing Planning Director Chris Brestrup gave a primer on the Master Plan. In it, she outlined the history of Amherst’s first Master Plan, which was completed in 2010. The charter requires that the plan be updated every 20 years, or in 2030, so that work needs to begin in 2025. 

Some of the goals of the Master Plan are to maintain Amherst’s existing community character, provide housing that meets the needs of all residents while minimizing impacts on the environment, to diversify and expand the economic base, and to promote an ethic of sustainable environmental energy practices in town activities. Brestrup said that all town initiatives are to be evaluated according to their adherence to the Master Plan.

Since 2010, the town has added several plans, such as the open space and recreation plan and flood plain mapping, and is currently working to update the Housing Production Plan and create a Solar Bylaw. Some of these are required by Massachusetts General Law. The town has also created the Amherst Municipal Affordable Housing Trust and with it made progress on providing affordable housing at several locations. Remaining to be further addressed, she said, are adequately addressing homelessness and the need for more affordable housing, repairing aging infrastructure, constructing new sidewalks, addressing large capital projects in a time of rising costs, updating the Zoning and General Bylaws, and applying the principles of environmental sustainability town-wide.

Hegner thought senior and workforce housing should also be a priority. Taub asked when the next Master Plan committee would be established and who would be involved. Schoen asked how much buildable land for increased development was left in town.

The public forum only yielded two comments. John Sheldon said that public parking, especially in the downtown area, needs to be increased to support existing businesses. Arlie Gould said the words encouraging preservation of Amherst’s cultural character do not align with current plans to partially demolish and expand the Jones Library.