Public Comment: Residents Have Petitioned for Two Sensible Zoning Changes
Architect's rendering of apartment building at 11-13 East Pleasant Street viewed from west. 1 East Pleasant Street is pictured to the south (right). Photo: Amherst Planning Department
The follwing public comment was offered at the meeting of the Amherst Town Council, October 6, 2025.
Neighbors, thanks for the chance to speak. I’m Ira Bryck—32-year Amherst resident, former UMass Family Business Center director, and someone who’s written often in the Amherst Indy about how our trajectory threatens the very character of downtown and our neighborhoods.
Let’s speak plainly: Amherst has barely 13,000 year-round residents bearing most of the civic responsibility while nearly 29,000 come for the academic year, renting, then moving on. That balance is already fragile, and yet most decisions from this council push us further from sustainability. The trend is clear—a shrinking college-aged population nationally. Betting everything on student housing may seem like a quick fix, but it’s shortsighted. If enrollment drops as predicted, we’re stuck with vacancy, instability, and neighborhoods no one else can feasibly live in.
A group of neighbors has just filed two sensible zoning bylaw changes. We’re simply asking for a one-year pause in multi-unit downtown construction, while we finish the design standards we’ve already been working on for two years, and get a real housing plan that values families, the workforce, and seniors, not just higher rents from students. We also want UMass to step up and house more of its own students, as they should.
Let’s be honest: this echoes the earlier moratorium petition, with 900 signatures, that the council brushed off, ignoring a clear message from the public. That kind of disregard is why Amherst struggles to recruit candidates and fill committees—people feel their voices don’t matter.
The council and its boards now skew heavily in favor of unchecked development, often appointing collaborators while sidelining our most qualified, independent neighbors. If we want to be a functioning democracy—especially when democracy itself is under threat nationwide—we have to act locally for transparency and fairness.
This is not anti-student, nor anti-development. It’s pro-community and pro-balance. If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem—and sadly, at present, the council’s “solution” may be the problem. Please, let’s take this pause, clarify our direction, and prioritize people who choose Amherst as home.
Ira Bryck has lived in Amherst since 1993, ran the Family Business Center for 25 years, hosted the “Western Mass. Business Show” on WHMP for seven years, now coaches business leaders, and is a big fan of Amherst’s downtown.