Letter: Fire Station at Hickory Ridge a Bad Idea
Amherst's central fire station. The town manager will soon appoint a committee to begin planning a new Amherst fire station. Photo: Amherst Firefighters Local 1764
The following letter was sent to the Amherst Town Council on February 5, 2024.
Locating the new town fire station at Hickory Ridge is a major mistake that generations of Amherst residents will have to live with. I urge you to reject this proposal from Town Hall for the following reasons:
1. Absence of any plan presented for public comment. Dave Ziomek and the Planning Department promised years ago that a comprehensive plan for the use of Hickory Ridge would be developed. No such plan exists. Town Hall simply jumped to “fire station” with no public discussion.
2. Locating a fire station at Hickory Ridge flies in the face of the results of a public survey by Town Hall. Three years ago the town sought public input on the uses of Hickory Ridge through its website. There was a strong response to this request. A large majority favored affordable housing as the best use of the property that was not already allocated to conservation land or solar arrays. No one suggested “fire station”. What is the purpose of Town Hall baiting residents with these requests for input if they are simply ignored?
3. Amherst firefighters believe that the site is in a poor location to meet the needs of the community. It is simply not close enough to the center of town, the source of most calls to the Fire Department. The last first chief, Tim Nelson, gave a very lukewarm endorsement indicating that Hickory Ridge was as far south as the fire station should be located. The obvious, best location is where DPW is now located, a plan that has been on the books for years.
4. The new “plan” is to have DPW remain at its current site. However, that location does not offer DPW enough space for its current needs, never mind future needs. Town Hall appears to acknowledge that a second site is needed, but is has yet to identify where that would be located. Thus there really is no appropriate plan for either DPW or the fire station.
5. What would be an appropriate use of the Hickory Ridge site? There is a great shortage of senior housing in Amherst. We anticipate many seniors downsizing in the coming years and many will want to remain in Amherst. Hickory Ridge is an ideal location for a mixed-use, senior residential development. It could provide a location for a senior center on the first floor with residential apartments above.
I beg you not to approve this mistaken attempt to address the needs of both of these important functions. Please direct the Town Manager to site the fire station at the current DPW location and to find a more appropriate site for DPW.
John Hornik
John Hornik is a resident of Amherst and former chair of the Amherst Municipal Affordable Housing Trust
I have a hard time understanding how the town can manage all that they have on their plate .
The Library , Student housing buildout, Overlay district, Hickory Ridge, New School,
School budgets, etc…
Seems like we’re taking a very big bite into our growth, all at the same time .
Thank you John for bringing this to the council’s attention. I remember the majority of commenters through Engage Amherst supporting affordable housing at this location (upwards of 90 responses).
I hope the council will listen to the voices of residents, though their track record on Pomeroy Lane in recent years (cough cough rotary opposition) is not inspiring.
While the resolution of this Fire/DPW issue is years behind it is still worth taking the time to do what other towns have done and that is to form a professional committee to research the costs and locations for this issue. Amherst has too many financial pressures and revenue deficits already so researching the lowest cost potentials is critically important or else any proposal presented to the public may be rejected and then more years will be lost. These are not complex issues to study. A committee was promised last October 2024.
I agree with John Hornik’s letter. What is going to become of the Wildwood School? Couldn’t that become a base for DPW with some room for other town offices? Then maybe the Bangs Center can be modified as a Senior Center again? Putting the new Fire Station at the present DPW site seems like a good idea.
I also wonder where the funding for these projects is going come from!