Amherst Center: Master plan raises good ideas

Published on July 27, 2007

Well, it's the dog days of summer, and everyone's resting and recharging. Or is it reloading, as one town observer put it? Anyway, it's that special, quiet time of year in Amherst.

If you're looking for some summer reading and have already finished Harry Potter, we have just what you need: the initial Amherst Master Plan work-group reports are available for your reading pleasure. Maybe on the next rainy day, you can check them out - go to www.amherstma.gov and click on the Technicolor Planning Amherst Together link.

It's actually pretty interesting to look at a town struggling to define its future. Ideas from hundreds of residents have been organized and focused by work groups into seven clusters of specific strategies for our town. If you squint (hard), you can see a real plan for the future of Amherst taking place. Some key ideas include:

Taller, mixed-use development downtown

A denser, taller mix of retail, office and residences downtown and in village centers seems to be one of the greatest areas of agreement. The land use work group calls for "redevelopment, intensification, and mixed-use development in existing village centers and downtown." The housing work group wants to "intensify upper-story housing development downtown." And the economic development work group says to "develop zoning that encourages sustainable development principles for mixed use, residential and high density within the village centers and downtown."

Protecting our natural beauty and rural character

A number of groups recognize that the rural landscape is a key part of our quality of life. The natural/cultural resources work group calls for a "green infrastructure plan." The economic development work group calls for sustaining "ecological consciousness." The open space/recreation work group talks about protecting "our rural character and agricultural viability." Clearly this is an area we all agree on.

Addressing housing needs while avoiding residential sprawl

The housing subcommittee offers a number of interesting strategies to provide housing that "is affordable & and that minimizes the impact on the environment." Suggestions include encouraging upper-story housing development downtown; basing housing development approval on number of square feet, rather than number of units, to encourage more, smaller units; allowing two-family houses in all residential zoning districts; and creating special zoning districts for private student housing, which will bring in tax revenues while lessening pressures on residential neighborhoods.

A really good start at an economic development plan

For as long as we've been writing this column, we've been talking about the need to raise new revenues by a variety of means, including appropriate economic development. The economic development work group identifies the goal of such development as follows: "To strengthen, diversify and grow the economic base and employment opportunities in the town, through smart development in the downtown, village centers, and commercial zones. Initiatives will be focused on clusters of businesses, mixed services, high technology/clean industries, cultural attractions, education, tourism and agricultural services. Such development will maintain, improve, and sustain quality of life, ecological consciousness and social values."

Specific strategies include: zoning for mixed-use development downtown; identifying land for business use and ensuring it has appropriate infrastructure; working with UMass to develop a research park to incubate new companies; marketing the town and providing incentives for targeted businesses; cleaning up regulatory processes; negotiating fair compensation from the University and colleges for town services; and appointing a permanent economic development committee to develop and implement a real strategic plan. This last one would seem to be long overdue.

A number of other promising ideas

There are many other ideas that offer a glimpse at an exciting future for our town. These include: developing live-work spaces such as artists' lofts and hidden tech condo/offices; a juried design composition to develop Kendrick Park as a northern gateway to the downtown; ensuring bicycle lanes at least four feet wide on all major roadways; using the old landfill for recreational space. The list goes on and on.

What will go where, and who will decide?

There are so many good ideas - and some of them conflict. The transportation group wants to decrease dependency on automobiles, while the economic development group wants convenient access to downtown. The housing work group identifies the need to resolve "competing land use interests, such as open space and affordable housing." The open space/recreation group suggests that the town manager "develop the role of a 'land use specialist' to mediate, prioritize, and coordinate competing proposals."

This is really the question for the land use work group: what will go where, and who will decide? And that is the least-developed part of the plan  with 60(!) strategies, it has something for everyone, but not a lot of coherence. But there's still time for this piece to come together.

Take a look. Add your comments. Then head to one of our great swimming holes for a dip!

Amherst Center is a monthly column that looks at local issues from a centrist perspective. It is written by Town Meeting members Baer Tierkel and Clare Bertrand and School Committee member Andy Churchill.