Plans for North Amherst Overlay District Advance

Report on the Meeting of the Amherst Planning Board, June 18, 2025

This meeting was held over Zoom and was recorded.

Present
Doug Marshall (Chair), Johanna Neumann, Bruce Coldham, Fred Hartwell, Jesse Mager, and Karin Winter. 

Staff: Nate Malloy (Senior Planner) and Pam Field Sadler (Assistant).

Plans for North Amherst Overlay Zone Proceed
The Planning Board has been working on a way to increase housing by allowing additional units in the apartment complexes along North Pleasant Street. To this aim, Bruce Coldham developed a model using Puffton Village, which is also off of North Pleasant Street, as an example. Puffton Village occupies a 44-acre site with a stream running through it. It currently has about 370 units. 

Coldham’s model includes a 100-foot buffer from the stream and proposed apartment blocks of three, five, and seven stories, with the lower buildings located closest to North Pleasant Street and 80 feet between buildings. Using his plans, he estimates that the site could hold over 1,000 units, a three to fourfold increase in density. 

Jesse Mager thought Coldham’s plan had too much parking, with 1,440 spaces planned. He thought that the complex was close to UMass and that many residents would bicycle or walk. Coldham stated that, even with the increased density, the impervious lot coverage was only 47%, well below the 85% allowed in the University Drive overlay. He recommended increasing the required number of affordable units from the 12% mandated by the current Inclusionary Zoning Bylaw to 15%-18% and maybe requiring the developer to create a multi-use path to UMass on the west side of the property to take some of the pressure off North Pleasant Street. Planning Board chair Doug Marshall, however, said he felt that a western path would be rarely used because it would not lead to the central part of campus. 

Other issues raised were the adequacy of the sewer main in the area, which Superintendent of Public Works Guilford Mooring said would need to be replaced if so many units were added. Malloy said that the police and fire departments were worried about being able to handle emergencies with the increased density. He said that they expressed concern that amenities such as picnic areas and basketball courts could be congregation sites that could lead to disturbances or interfere with EMS response. Marshall said that public safety representatives should look at the site in terms of emergency response capacity.

Traffic mitigation was a big issue in the feedback the Planning Board has received on the proposal, according to…?. Janet Keller said that traffic is congested on North Pleasant Street most days when the university is in session. She also noted that one complex owner recently asserted that neither property managers nor emergency responders could handle more than the number of disturbances they are handling now, let alone what might be expected with three times the number of residents.

Coldham suggested that the Planning Board hold public meetings to obtain more robust feedback on the overlay proposal.

Hearings for Munson Accessible Walkway and Atkins Corner Mixed-use Development Postponed Until July
The town is waiting to get input from the Commission for People with Disabilities on the proposed accessible walkway from the south entrance of the Munson Memorial Library and Archipelago Investments is still waiting for approval from the Conservation Commission of its 140-unit mixed-use building proposed for Atkins corner. Planning Board public hearings on both issues were thus postponed until the July 16 meeting. 

Coldham asked why the disabilities commission needed to review the Munson plans since it was such a small project and regulations for construction of accessible walkways exist. He said, “It just seemed to me that engagement with every available committee can’t be good for business. What can the disability committee add to what isn’t already so clearly outlined in the regulations? It seemed like an example of an overreach.”

Malloy explained that the Commission for People with Disabilities has members with different kinds of impairment who can offer a different perspective on a project, such as material or lighting. The existing code is the minimum requirements. He added that the town was rushing to get this project underway, so did not follow the usual process of notifying the commission for input. Planning Board member Karin Winter noted that, in this case, the whole purpose of the grant was to make the entrance accessible, so it was appropriate to get the disability commission involved.

Housing Production Plan Unanimously Approved
Although several members of the Planning Board admitted that they had not had the chance to thoroughly study the final version of the Housing Production Plan (HPP) prepared by Barrett Planning Group, they felt that they were familiar enough with earlier versions to vote to approve it and recommend it to the Town Council for acceptance. The plan estimates that Amherst will need 700 to 900 more housing units in the next five years. 
Malloy noted that the consultants had a hard time quantifying the number of UMass students who consider themselves among Amherst residents. The university did not keep records of students in off-campus housing until 2020. He said that emphasis of the HPP was on creating enough affordable housing and appropriately densifying housing in different zoning districtHe said that it is up to the town to determine what is the right density of housing and to specify housing types or styles.