Pinball Arcade Proposed for Mill District
Photo: amherstma.gov
Report on the Meeting of the Zoning Board of Appeals, March 26, 2026
This meeting was held over Zoom and was recorded.
Present
Everald Henry (Chair), David Ahlfeld, Craig Meadows, David Sloviter, and Philip White.
Staff: Jacinta Williams (Planner)
Pinball Arcade Proposed for Former Atkins North Store
Florence resident Amy McDonough applied for a special permit to open a pinball arcade, video game, and golf simulator establishment in the location of the former Atkins Country Market Store North (and then briefly Provisions) at 113 Cowls Lane. The application asks for a waiver of the requirements for architectural drawings and a traffic impact study.
McDonough is a founding member of Northampton Belles, a women’s pinball team affiliated with the international Belles & Chimes network, a competitive pinball organization.
Architect Dan Bonham said that the only planned exterior alterations are the addition of double doors at the building’s front, where a window currently exists, and replacing the cow sculpture on the eave with a sign for the business. He also said that Planning and Economic Director Jeff Bagg stated that the traffic impact study done for Atkins in 2015 was sufficient for the new business.
The property has not been before the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) previously, although it has received site plan reviews from the Planning Board for earlier enterprises. A special permit is now required for the change of use to “Arcade or Indoor Amusement.”
The capacity of the site will remain at 100 with parking spaces for 27 cars. Although the arcade, to be named Tilted Orbit Pinball Arcade, will be geared to all ages, there will be a bar serving alcohol and a patio for food and drink. The 25-page management plan details how alcohol sales will be regulated to combat underage drinking. The area serving alcohol will be separated from the one serving other food and drinks. IDs of patrons will be scanned on entry, with those over 21 receiving a handstamp, and again when they purchase alcohol. Only two drinks may be purchased at a time. In addition, alcohol will only be served in glasses.
McDonough said that, even though the business will be primarily an arcade and not a bar, all employees will undergo TIPS training, certification for establishments that serve alcohol, and workers will make regular sweeps of the facility to ensure that there is no underage drinking. Crowd control measures would be in place from 8 p.m. to midnight on weekends.
The arcade will be open weekdays from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m., but closed on Tuesday and Wednesday. It will be open until midnight on Friday and Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday. The facility will be available for rental for private parties on Wednesdays. There will be music on the patio until 9 p.m.
ZBA Chair Everald Henry questioned whether the 2015 Traffic Impact study done for Atkins applies to this very different use and different hours, but Bonham thought that there would be less traffic for the arcade, because people would stay longer for each visit.
Craig Meadows said that he was surprised that there were no comments from the public, given the number of people that live in the nearby apartments, but David Sloviter noted that the area is largely commercial, so he would not expect many concerns from abutters.
North Amherst resident Hilda Greenbaum voiced concerns about excess noise and traffic late at night from young people leaving the arcade. She also thought that there should be a condition regarding the disposition of the special permit if the ownership changed, and the new owner changed the use of the building.
All ZBA members seemed favorably disposed to the application, but felt that some special conditions needed to be placed to safeguard against underage drinking and excessive noise. Although the management plan details these measures, the conditions attached to the special permit allow for enforcement.
Staff liaison Jacinta Williams said she will review the special permits for other establishments that serve alcohol, such as the Spoke, the Harp, and McMurphy’s, and formulate conditions for Tilted Orbit. The application will again come before the ZBA on April 9.
Solar and Battery Storage Projects Receive Go-Ahead
The ZBA unanimously approved the transfer of the special permit for a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) for Pulpit Hill Solar and extended the permit for the solar and BESS at Hickory Ridge.
After a site visit to the Pulpit Hill project at 451 Montague Road, ZBA members noted that the solar array was complete, but the battery storage part of the project was not started. Because the construction period for the special permit covering both uses had expired, the owner, LSE Fornax, requested a transfer of the BESS portion of the permit to a new entity, LSE Fornax II. There will be no changes from the previous plans.
The special permit awarded to Fort River Solar for the construction of a solar array and BESS at Hickory Ridge, 191 West Pomeroy Lane, expired at the end of February. Lawrence Cook, representing PureSky Energy, the company installing the project, stated that work could not be done during the winter months. He asked for and was granted an extension of 18 to 24 months.