Planning Board Seeks to Balance Needs of Students and Year-Round Residents

Report on the Meeting of the Amherst Planning Board, December 17, 2025

This meeting was held over Zoom and was recorded.

Present
Doug Marshall (Chair), Bruce Coldham, Fred Hartwell, Angus McLeod, Jesse Mager, and Jerah Smith, Absent: Jesse Mager and Johanna Neumann.

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

Board Members Spurred to Reconsider Needs of Students and Year-round Residents
Although the Planning Board did not recommend the measures put forth in two bylaws proposed by residents, aiming to better balance the needs of year-round residents and students, they agreed that the issues raised in the proposals merited serious consideration.

Those bylaws proposed to enact a temporary moratorium on multi-unit buildings in the downtown and to limit the density and location of student homes. 

The Housing and Zoning Subcommittee of the Planning Board has been discussing the issues for over a year, resulting in the recommendation for a North Amherst overlay district, among other suggestions, but the residents’ proposals fostered an impetus to improve communication with UMass about accommodating more students on campus. 

Chair Doug Marshall, along with Bruce Coldham and Fred Hartwell, recalled a meeting with senior officials from UMass three years ago. The Planning Board was told that UMass houses a greater proportion of its students on campus than other flagship schools, but Marshall said, “They weren’t the sort of folks who could make a commitment on behalf of the university.”

Coldham agreed, “Not even close. And I think the Town Manager has made it clear to us as a board that he doesn’t want any intrusion into a conduit between the town and the university that doesn’t go right through his office.” 

“Is there another town in the country that is more challenged by the ratio of the population of the town to the size of the institution, and the proportion of off- and on-campus students?
– Bruce Coldham, Amherst Planning Board

Coldham recalled his research on other university towns. He asked, “Is there another town in the country that is more challenged by the ratio of the population of the town to the size of the institution, and the proportion of off- and on-campus students? It seems to me that Amherst is unique, and it’s becoming more apparent to me.” 

The Planning Board has little leverage over what UMass does, but members wanted to encourage more dialogue about meeting the needs of both populations. Marshall noted that, while UMass is engaging in more public-private partnerships in housing, those are largely to update and replace existing housing, not to increase the number of beds. Several members also stated that building on campus does not produce tax revenue for the town, while increasing the use of services. 

Jerah Smith said, “I wish that the conversation was more about how we can work together and not, how we can pull one over on the other guy to get them to do what we want. This housing crisis that we’re in is not going to be solved by any one entity. We need to work together to find solutions, so it’s really frustrating for me to hear that there aren’t any kind of regular conversations between the town and the university.” He stressed the importance of knowing the plans of the university and colleges in order to best prioritize the goals of the recently approved Housing Production Plan. Board members agreed to approach the Town Manager about their desire for more communication around housing with UMass through planner Nate Malloy.

Marshall pointed out that it is not only that students are renting houses in neighborhoods, but that it also “has to do with the number of cars that are accumulated at student homes. I live across from a little house that has at least four people, so there’s always four cars in the driveway, and there’s up to another five cars from boyfriends and friends that could be there 24 hours a day, so there’s a lot of vehicle traffic. And then there’s the Thursday night walk into town, then they come back anywhere from one to two o’clock. It’s the behavior and the traffic that are not typical for a single-family home. I get it. I live with it, too.”

Angus McLeod stated, “There really seems to be an antagonistic kind of focus on students as a threat to the community or as a problem to be solved. It’s a broader housing problem than just students, though, and if we don’t do some things at least to reach out to the Town Manager, I do worry that that trend is going to continue. And UMass is an enormous asset. I don’t want us to get to a point where we’re treating this wonderful institution as a problem for the town.”

“There’s a lot of really awful, predatory equity firms out there who are very intentionally buying up single-family homes and turning them into rental opportunities, usually doing minimal repairs, flipping them, and then charging them for as much rent as they possibly can.”
-Jerah Smith, Amherst Planning Board

Smith added, “There’s a lot of really awful, predatory equity firms out there who are very intentionally buying up single-family homes and turning them into rental opportunities, usually doing minimal repairs, flipping them, and then charging them for as much rent as they possibly can.” He continued, “I think it’s interesting that the town probably grew in the 70’s. A lot of homeowners are probably downsizing, and that may put more supply on the market, but I think not a lot of single-family homes are being built right now, so if they buy them up and turn them into rentals, they’re going to be able to squeeze a lot of rental money out of them.”

Marshall concluded, “The way to stop it is to let a whole lot of housing be built, so there’s not so much money to be made in single-family houses. But that would create some change in the character of Amherst.”

Malloy said he took notes on the discussion. “I feel like it’s a really good time with the new Housing Production Plan and how we can do certain things with housing,” he said. “In zoning and general bylaw, maybe we have to reexamine some of those standards. In my neighborhood, a house just sold for an unbelievable amount, and it’s becoming a rental. And they’re probably going to charge way too much for whoever’s going to live there.”

In public comment, Sarah Barr, who is responsible for Amherst College’s relationship with the town, said she is attending Planning Board meetings to understand the nature of the housing conversation and what Amherst College might do in the area of workforce housing. She stated, “Amherst College has hired a consulting firm to help us understand parcels that we might be able to use for housing, the market pressures facing our workforce, and some of the possibilities for the college.”

Planning Board Priorities for 2026
Malloy informed the board that the town received a $70,000 grant to study housing in East Amherst. McLeod wanted to concentrate on village centers and creating different types of housing around town to align with the Housing Production Plan. Smith suggested looking into 40R (Smart Growth zoning)  and 40Y (starter home zoning) to increase affordable rental units and to encourage building more starter homes. 

Malloy noted that the downtown design standards will be made public early in 2026 and hopefully be accepted by June. Also, he wanted to simplify the permitting for certain projects, such as duplexes and triplexes, and proposals with a defined purpose like the prefab storage shed for Amherst Youth Soccer.  He reminded the board that they will be evaluating the town’s new solar bylaw and the state’s new energy siting law.

Marshall wondered if all these topics, along with the continuation of discussions around housing issues, would be too much for the board to take on. 

Amherst College Salt Shed and Vehicle Washing Facility and Shutesbury Road Preliminary Subdivision Plan Approved
Amherst College presented a revised plan for its proposed large vehicle washing facility and salt shed on Dickinson Street. The new plan has dark-sky compliant lighting on the existing building and enhanced landscaping along Dickinson Street to better screen the building and parking and to provide a division between the sidewalk and the property. Jason Bhajan and Kris Baker, representing Amherst College, said it was not possible to move the location of the salt shed farther from College Street, because the alternative locations did not allow required emergency vehicle access.

Abutter Mindy Sahner said that the new plans were an improvement, but she still felt there was not enough shading planned and that the site was still largely a parking lot. The Planning Board suggested that the garage doors on the existing building be painted white instead of Amherst College purple to make them less conspicuous. The revised plan passed 4-0, with McLeod recusing himself as an employee of Amherst College.

Attorney Tom Reidy of Bacon Wilson presented a preliminary subdivision plan for four housing lots on W.D. Cowls land off Shutesbury Road. The plan would freeze the zoning, so Pure Sky could develop a 40-acre solar installation that would not be affected by a new solar bylaw in the town. The plan is identical to that previously approved twice by the Planning Board. The solar project is currently in front of the Conservation Commission and will need approval from the Zoning Board of Appeals. There is no intention for the subdivision to be built.  

The preliminary subdivision plan was approved 5-0.

New Ownership for 70 University Drive
The 36-unit mixed-use building at 70 University Drive that opened in 2019 has been sold by the Roberts Group to WD Cowls, Inc. Kamins will be the management company. There will be no change to the building or the management plan. There will continue to be four affordable units in the building, all of which are currently occupied. With the change of ownership, the Planning Board was required to approve a revision to the Special Permit, which was approved unanimously.