Residents File Suit Challenging Proposed Development in North Amherst

Source: Attorney Michael Pill

On April 8, 2026, Amherst residents Hilda Greenbaum, Robin Jaffin, Alexander Hoar, Susan McGinn, Jay Mankita and RKP, LLC (Bruce Patterson, principal) filed a lawsuit in the Massachusetts Land Court against Beacon Properties, LLC (with the Town of Amherst as a nominal co-defendant), asking the court to rule on the applicability of Amherst’s Zoning Bylaw to Beacon’s proposed four-story, 140 unit apartment apartment building at 246 Montague Road in North Amherst.  The Amherst Zoning Bylaw does not allow the project in that location. 

The complaint quotes Beacon’s Chief Executive Officer Dara Kovel acknowledging that Beacon is a “for-profit development company.” That means notwithstanding rhetoric by Beacon spokesperson Darcy Jameson about supporting housing affordability, the company seeks to maximize its own profit by shifting as many project costs as possible to the Town of Amherst, already burdened by one of the highest property tax rates in the Commonwealth.  Amherst has a “Subsidized Housing Inventory (SHI) Percentage of 12.81% as of September 30, 2025, far above the 10% required by state affordable housing legislation, Mass. General Laws, chapter 40B. 

The complaint alleges the proposed project requires a subsidy totaling several million dollars from the Town of Amherst for municipal services that include but may not be limited to the following:  extension of a municipal sewer line, installation of new sidewalks, traffic calming measures to accommodate the 210-space parking lot for the proposed project and the expected number of trips generated by the project, improved access to bus service, public water supply is not sufficient for firefighting at the proposed four-story apartment building (the project site is at the northernmost end of the Town of Amherst’s public water supply system), and sufficient fire station staffing for response in case of fire. 

Town staff people already are subsidizing the project by devoting substantial time to applying for grants to fund a portion of the required public subsidy.    

The complaint also alleges that Beacon plans to request a property tax reduction from the Town of Amherst, and that even if the project pays full local property taxes, the combination of additional children in the town’s public schools and the demand for municipal services described above means it will be a substantial net drain on the town’s finances.  The complaint goes on to assert that the Town of Amherst is in dire financial straits, faced with demands (not all of which can be met by the town) for: adequate public school funding, public road repairs and improvements,  a new Department of Public Works building,  a multi-million-dollar funding shortfall for expansion of the town’s public library (known as the Jones Library) which is now under construction, a new central fire station in downtown Amherst (the current one has been in use for over 96 years, since January, 1930 and is in need of replacement),  adequate Fire Department staffing (current inadequate staffing means it is likely only one Amherst fire engine will be able to respond to a fire in the four-story apartment building proposed for the project site), and improvement of Amherst’s public water supply system so it has sufficient emergency capacity to combat a serious fire in the four-story apartment building proposed for the project site.