Budget gap prompts zoning changes

By CAROL SHARICK

Published on October 05, 2007

Zoning. Now there's a topic that could make you glaze over and send you into a deep slumber. Despite being the daughter of a planner, and thus having zoning issues in my blood, I admit to being guilty of "zoning out" occasionally when these important discussions take place in Town Meeting.

Perhaps it's that the Planning Board hasn't found the right way to explain the importance of the various locations we're addressing. It's really difficult to speak in common English about these things which are so vital to the future of our town. Perhaps it's all the abbreviations (like PRPs) and terms (like mixed-use residential) that, when strung together, begin to sound like gobbledygook.

Perhaps it's the fact that as soon as the Planning Board takes the floor of Town Meeting, there is immediate hostility in the air directed their way, which makes it difficult to focus on this unglamorous topic. I'm not sure if even matters who is on the Planning Board. They are immediately seen as the enemy by the Not in My Back Yard crowd.

Currently, there are some very important zoning issues before the Planning Board. They have to do with how we, as a town, might allow some slight increases in economic development, while maintaining the kind of town we all love. These items will be in front of Town Meeting this fall.

This is also a very important time for the town planners to hear from the public. But here's what's happening: zzzzzzzzzzz. Because many of us are busy with jobs, kids, activities and keeping it all together, and because zoning is one of those things that is like, well, a bedtime tape, we all assume that it is taking care of itself, that common sense will win out, and that we don't need to show up.

But while most of us are taking our participatory democracy for granted, and assuming that common sense will win, the Not in My Back Yard crowd is showing up. Not only are they showing up, but they are emotional, and they've got the violins tuned up.

Whether the issue is allowing businesses to have visitors by appointment only, or allowing condominiums to be built on a lovely country road, you would think the world would end if such a thing were to happen. Whether the topic is the improvement of the intersection area near Pizzarama and Donatello's, or the possibility of commercial space in North Amherst, which might make an amazing view only slightly less amazing, you would think we were asking for a Wal-Mart on every corner.

Oh, the drama of it all! To be fair, the proposed changes might have some negative effects on these few squeaky wheels who are showing up at the meetings. Perhaps a handful of extra cars driving on a road near the PRP zone, or a view with an extra building or two in the picture are really quite serious to our quality of life in Amherst. Perhaps.

But more likely, what is really important to our future is our schools, our libraries, and our public safety, all of which are suffering because of lack of funding. What's important is that hundreds of participants in the master planning process indicated that increased economic development should be a priority. Zoning changes are required for a lot of this development to be effective.

As we've seen in recent columns in the Bulletin, there are very few spots in town where zoning can even be changed - ever. And those that can be changed, however slightly, are being fought against tooth and nail, because let's face it, change is hard.

So what can you, the reader, do? If you are a person who likes living in Amherst, who understands that we have a crippling revenue shortage, and who'd like to see some increased economic development in town, you can take a deep breath, squeeze a few more minutes out of your incredibly busy schedule, grab a cup of coffee, and head on down to a Planning Board meeting. There's one on Oct. 17.

Your opinion matters. Your voice matters. Your presence matters. There is strength in numbers. We are the silent majority in this town, and our silence is keeping us from moving forward. At best, you'll drink coffee, see people, help bring about change, and maybe even be slightly entertained by the antics that will most likely ensue. At worst, you'll attend another meeting, and maybe learn what some of those abbreviations and terms mean. But most likely, you'll feel like you did something good and made a difference in the future of your town.

Best of all, you'll go home and fall asleep easily, just by running all those PRP zones and multi-use & zzzzz. Wait! WAKE UP! Go to the meeting first. Then you can drift off into your peaceful slumber, knowing that you've done your part.

Carol Sharick lives on Flat Hills Road and works at Amherst College.