TM passes many articles

Published on December 07, 2007

Five sessions of fall Town Meeting spread over a 24-day period have seemingly made Amherst more receptive to business growth and accomplished many of the goals established by Town Manager Larry Shaffer.

Select Board Chairman Gerry Weiss said, despite the large amount of work and time dedicated from town officials in preparing for Town Meeting, a lot was accomplished.

"I'm pleased with the outcome," Weiss said.

Following is an article-by-article summary of what took place at Town Meeting:

Article 1: Reports from various boards and committees.

Result: The Comprehensive Planning Committee, the 250th Anniversary Committee and the Finance Committee made presentations to Town Meeting.

Article 2: Previous year's unpaid bills.

Result: This article was dismissed.

Article 3: Reallocating $562,207 from cash reserves to the health claims trust fund and $31,323 to the Hampshire Regional Lock-up facility.

Result: Both passed.

What it means: The town has met its mandated obligations to the trust fund and the regional lockup assessment.

What's next?: Amherst will again have to plan for these expenses in next year's operating budget.

Article 4: A request from the Board of Assessors to give property tax exemptions for veterans organizations.

Result: The exemption was approved.

What it means: A provision of state law allows this exemption of up to $700,000 in property assessments, meaning the Veterans of Foreign War and American Legion buildings will continue to be exempt from paying taxes.

What's next?: Only if the property assessment exceeds $700,000 would these institutions be billed.

Article 5: Spending $195,000 to purchase portable classrooms for Mark's Meadow School.

Result: The purchase was approved, despite an attempt by Town Meeting member Nancy Gordon to shut the school and have its pupils transferred to the other three town elementary schools.

What it means: Classes will no longer feature mixed grades and teachers will have ample space for doing their work.

What's next?: The classrooms must be procured and brought to the site before school next September.

Article 6: Dissolving the Senior Trust.

Result: Passed overwhelmingly.

What it means: A new entity, called Friends of the Amherst Senior Center, will be able to incorporate and take over the money that was in the Senior Trust.

What's next? Forming this new Friends group.

Article 7: Community Preservation Act money for preservation of open space in North Amherst.

Result: Town Meeting approved the expenditure of $123,000 in CPA money.

What it means: About 28 acres of land near the Leverett town line will be protected in perpetuity and a housing development that was slated to be built on a portion of this property will be much smaller.

What's next?: The town must execute the purchase of the land.

Article 8: Community Preservation Act money for Town Hall renovations.

Result: Town Meeting approved the expenditure, including using $100,000 in CPA reserves and borrowing $295,000 over the next 10 years.

What it means: The bulk of the repointing work on Town Hall, the clock tower and the south staircase will be done using CPA generated funds rather than money from property taxes.

What's next?: Since the work is already being done by Sherwood Roofing, this was more about changing how the work on the 1889 building would be paid for.

Article 9: Yuri Friman brought forward this article to make Amherst the fourth Fair Trade community in the United States.

Result: Town Meeting unanimously approved this measure.

What it means: Amherst will be able to publicize itself as a Fair Trade community, meaning that its residents and businesses support the concept of selling products made by workers who are not exploited and companies that do not use child labor or have unsafe working conditions.

What's next?: Businesses looking to sell fair trade products such as coffee, chocolate and bananas now have a further incentive as shoppers looking for fair trade label know Amherst is friendly to it.

Article 10: A research and development overlay district for the west side of University Drive.

Result: Town Meeting passed the new zoning.

What it means: Businesses with research and development and testing components, such as the new SunEthanol that has already come to University Drive, can locate in this district.

What's next?: It will be up to businesses to take advantage of this new district, which could encourage growth of businesses associated with the University of Massachusetts.

Article 11: Research and industrial uses within business zones.

Result: Town Meeting passed this new zoning.

What it means: The Planning Board will oversee approval for these types of businesses, which creates a more predictable permitting process and could encourage development. Only more intense manufacturing uses would have the more stringent special permit process of the Zoning Board of Appeals.

What's next?: Like Article 10, it will be up to businesses to seek permitting under this changed bylaw.

Article 12: Accessory light manufacturing.

Result: This was passed by Town Meeting.

What it means: When a company wants to conduct low-level manufacturing to test the viability of its products, it can get an amendment to its permit rather than seek a new permit. It also imposes new controls on where and how the manufacturing can occur, establishing minimum distances from residences, a ban on sales on the premises and a maximum area where light manufacturing can occur.

What's next?: Businesses could use this new bylaw to expand their operations more easily.

Articles 13 and 14: Competing articles to regulate offices in the village center and professional research park districts were dismissed and merged into a special Town Meeting article.

Result: Town Meeting approved all three components of the new article.

What it means: Offices with some visitors by appointment, such as architectural firms, can locate in professional research parks with a special permit. Also, some village center residence locations can now become places for businesses. More protections are offered for residential properties impacted by lighting from businesses, and there will be greater vegetated buffers for PRPs.

What's next?: Businesses looking to bring their offices to Amherst will have more land and more opportunities available for doing so.

Article 15: Rezoning Spring Street for commercial uses and changing the permitting process for hotels, motels and inns.

Result: While Spring Street from Boltwood Avenue to Churchill Street is now a commercial zone, only inns, which must be located in buildings at least 75 years old, will be allowed in Amherst through site plan review.

What it means: Town Manager Larry Shaffer said this allows him to work with Amherst College on the direction of expansion of the Lord Jeffery Inn. Developers seeking to locate hotels and motels anywhere in the commercial district will still have to get special permits.

What's next?: For the short term, expansion of the Lord Jeffery Inn and possibly preservation of the Lessey House owned by the Pacific Lodge of Masons. In the long term, possibly a viable new commercial area.

Articles 16 and 17: Competing articles to rezone an area around College and South East streets to allow more commercial uses on what are now residential properties.

Result: Town Meeting approved only Article 16, which provides for greater business possibilities than would have been allowed under Article 17.

What it means: The change was designed to locate services and employment within walking distance of numerous residences and apartment complexes.

What's next?: Amir Mikhchi, owner of Auto Express and Reliance Auto and five houses on South East Street that he rents to students, will be able to construct buildings there for retail and office uses after getting financing for the project and going through a permitting process.

Article 18: Petition article for rezoning the former Bioshelters property at 500 and 502 Sunderland Road for residential use.

Result: This was referred back to the Planning Board for study.

What it means: Property owner Kenneth Bergstrom will not be able to yet find other uses for the concrete pad on which the Bioshelters sat. Bioshelters once grew basil and tilapia.

What's next: If the rezoning returns in the future, it would likely lead to the development of condominiums on the property.

Article 19: Petition article for rezoning portions of Main, Dickinson and High streets.

Result: Town Meeting referred this article back to the Planning Board for study.

What it means: No commercial properties in these neighborhoods will lose their zoning.

What's next?: A public process will take place to analyze how these rezoning efforts would affect the properties.

Article 20: Petition article that advises the Select Board to reconsider its vote in favor of waiving effluent fees for the University of Massachusetts.

Result: Town Meeting defeated this recommendation by voice vote.

What it means: The vote on effluent was the only Select Board action needed for ratification of a five-year strategic agreement with UMass. The agreement, which will bring the town an additional $140,000 annually for fire protection services, will now likely stand as a result of this decision.

What's next?: Barring another effort by the Amherst Taxpayers for Responsible Change, which brought forward the petition, the issue has been settled.