Planning Board Declines to Reopen Hearing on Downtown Amherst College Dorm
South elevation of proposed Amherst College student dorm at 55 South Pleasant Street. Photo: Kuhn Riddle Architects / amherstma/gov
Report on the Meeting of the Planning Board, October 29, 2024, Part 1
This meeting was held over Zoom and was recorded.
Present
Doug.Marshall (Chair), Fred Hartwell, Jesse Mager, Johanna Neumann, and Karin Winter. Absent: Bruce Coldham and Lawrence Kluttz.
Staff: Nate Malloy (Senior Planner), Pam Field-Sadler (Assistant)
There were nine in the Zoom audience.
Karin Winter’s motion to reopen the public hearing regarding Barry Roberts’ proposal that would turn his mixed-use building behind the former Hastings store at 45-55 South Pleasant Street into an Amherst College dorm was defeated by a 2-3 vote. Winter maintained that the Planning Board did not have time to fully evaluate the changes presented at the October meeting that approved all 22 residential units in the building to be leased to Amherst College as a residence for students. She has since realized that the Zoning Bylaw (Section 3.326) does not allow dormitories outside of the R-F (fraternity and sorority) district.
Chair Doug Marshall said that he brought Winter’s concern to Senior Planner Nate Malloy, who looked into the matter and concluded that, because there was commercial use in the building, it was a mixed-use building and not a dormitory and “we don’t allow commercial in dormitories anywhere, so that category doesn’t really apply.” Malloy noted that the final decision on the modification of the Special Permit has not been finalized with the Town Clerk, so the Planning Board could reopen the public hearing.
Fred Hartwell said he felt comfortable with the board’s decision because it did not exempt Amherst College from the requirements of the new Rental Registration Bylaw, which requires annual approval and inspections every five years. The board left the decision about compliance with the bylaw up to the building commissioner, Rob Morra.
Winter and Jesse Mager questioned Marshall and Malloy’s contention that a dormitory cannot contain commercial space, as the term is not defined in the Zoning Bylaw. Winter noted that Amherst College is advertising the building as a dorm. The vote was 2-3 against the motion to reopen the hearing, with only Mager and Winter voting in favor.
Read more: College to Open Dorm Above College Store (Amherst Student)