Planning Board Nixes Duplex-Triplex Zoning Amendment

Report On The Meeting Of The Amherst Planning Board, June 21, 2023

This meeting was held over Zoom and was recorded. It can be viewed here.

Present
Doug Marshall (Chair), Bruce Coldham, Karin Winter, Janet McGowan, Andrew MacDougall, Thom Long, and Johanna Neumann. 

Staff
Chris Brestrup (Planning Director), Nate Malloy (Senior Planner), and Pam Field Sadler (Assistant)

Planning Board Recommends Starting Over To Increase Housing
In its eighth discussion since January of the complex zoning amendments proposed by Town Councilors Mandi Jo Hanneke (at large) and Pat DeAngelis (District 2), the Planning Board (PB) recommended by a unanimous vote not to recommend them to the council. They commended the sponsors for spurring the discussion about increasing housing in town and vowed to continue working on this issue through extra PB meetings devoted to changing zoning to achieve diversity in housing in more areas of town.

The discussion began with DeAngelis reading a series of modifications that she and Hanneke had made to the proposal and submitted earlier in the day. These changes are a response to suggestions made by the PB and Planning Department to require special permits for owner-occupied and affordable duplexes and townhouses in the neighborhood residence zone (RN), outlying and low-density residential zones (RO and RLD), and aquifer recharge areas. The changes also prohibited triplexes in the RN district, and required site plan review for two to four units on a property in other districts, and a special permit for more than four units on a property.

PB Chair Doug Marshall said these were too many changes to consider at the last minute, and he had not had a chance to digest their implications. Bruce Coldham moved that the PB not recommend the zoning changes to the Town Council. He said the goals of increasing housing and affordability are laudable, but he felt this proposal was unlikely to achieve them. He has been looking at and corresponding with similar towns about how they deal with the pressure of student housing. He also attended a webinar put on by the International Town/Gown Association last week dealing with housing in college towns, and said there are many creative approaches to dealing with this common problem, and he would like the PB to consider these in formulating a proposal for Amherst. 

PB member Thom Long commended DeAngelis and Hanneke for starting the discussion of improving and increasing housing in Amherst, but he also recommended that the PB look for other solutions “without the breadth and unknown impacts of this one.” Marshall said he tried not to let the “perfect be the enemy of the good” and worried about whether any of it could be reintroduced within the next two years if the Council does not approve it.  Planning Director Chris Brestrup explained that although the proposal in its entirety could not be reintroduced for two years, portions of it could be. She also felt that parts of it have merit. Marshall added that  he would prefer changes that are more incremental than the changes in this proposal. 

Janet McGowan thought the best thing would be for DeAngelis and McGowan to withdraw their proposal and allow the planning professionals and PB to craft a proposal that would be more practical.. Johanna Neumann said that the proposal “[was] not a panacea to Amherst’s housing problem, but was a gentle nudge—a step in the right direction.” She wondered if there were aspects that the PB could endorse now. DeAngelis said she was unwilling to accept changes to the proposal without consulting with Hanneke.

In the end, the Planning Board voted 7–0 to recommend that the Council not accept the zoning amendments. Instead, the board will study low, moderate, and student housing with a view to improving housing options.

In the end, the PB voted 7-0 to recommend that the Council not accept the zoning amendments. Coldham then proposed that the Board commit to study low and moderate, and student, housing with a view to improving housing options. The PB agreed to meet in person at least three times before the end of 2023 to determine zoning changes that will improve housing availability and affordability and make sure “we achieve the result we want.” McGowan agreed, saying she would like to increase housing density in town while maintaining design standards and studying the impacts of student housing. Karin Winter said the PB was spending too much time on the minutiae of the Hanneke-DeAngelis proposal, and recommended that the Board start over with a broader context. The PB voted 5-0-2 (Long and MacDougall abstained) to devote at least three meetings to crafting zoning changes for housing in 2023.

New Restaurant Approved For Previous Site Of Lone Wolf On Main Street
Scott Zhang has proposed a new restaurant, Lau Hu Tong, for 63 Main Street, site of the previous Lone Wolf Restaurant. Due to the moratorium on new natural gas hook-ups, he has applied for a permit for eight propane tanks to be placed on the concrete pad behind the building. It is estimated that, if the site at 61 Main Street is also to reopen as a restaurant, a total of 11 propane tanks will be needed to provide power for cooking. The concrete pad is shared with Kendrick Properties next door and faces the parking lot behind Town Hall.

Matthew LeCroix, property manager for Bay State West, and Jamie Fitzgerald of Superior Plus Energy answered PB questions about the site plan review. LeCroix said Kendrick Properties agreed to the restaurant’s use of the concrete pad, as long as they were allowed to keep their trash out there as well. Bollards would be placed in front of the tanks to protect them. The fire department requires that the windows above the tanks be blocked off. The project has already received approval from the Design Review Board.

The PB discussed whether or not to require screening around the tanks, but decided that fencing would not afford more protection for the tanks than the bollards and was likely to be damaged over time. Planner Nate Malloy noted that parking for delivery services has been a concern for all restaurants in town, with drivers often double parking, but he did not see a special concern for this project. The PB wanted assurance that the trash pick-up would be frequent enough to prevent garbage from littering the surrounding area, and that collection of cooking oil also be scheduled frequently. Another condition was that delivery of supplies be scheduled before 8 a.m. or after 4:30 p.m. to avoid interference with the visitors’ parking lot behind Town Hall.

With the above conditions, the site plan review for the restaurant passed unanimously.

Rearrangement Of Lots On Fearing And North Pleasant Street Will Allow Creation Of More Housing
Developer Barry Roberts applied to combine seven lots he owns on Fearing and North Pleasant Streets into one large lot and two smaller lots. This will allow him to build three additional multifamily buildings on the large lot where a three-unit building currently exists. The two smaller lots on Fearing Street could be the site of duplexes. This proposal was unanimously approved.

Last PB Meeting For MacDougall And Long
This was the last PB meeting for MacDougall and Long, who did not apply for reappointment. The Community Resources Committee voted 3-2 not to recommend the reappointment of Neumann, but the full council will vote on whether to give her a second term on June 26.