Market Will Guide Future Zoning of Hampshire College Campus

About 25 people gathered at the new Izote Restaurant on West Street with Town Manager Paul Bockelman and Planning and Economic Development Director Jeff Bagg. Most of the discussion centered around the town’s plans to rezone the Hampshire College campus to allow non-educational uses of the property. Bockelman and Planning and Bagg outlined the town’s strategy and fielded questions and suggestions from attendees. 

The town has scheduled a listening session with consultants from Mass Development on September 22 at 6 p.m. and a design workshop on September 24 at 5:30 p.m. at the Eric Carle Museum, 125 Bay Road. Registration is requested but not required to attend these events (see here and here).  Amherst received an additional grant of $175,000 from Mass Development to plan for use of the campus after it closes for good in December. Bockelman said that the area has long been considered for a village center, and this is a chance to change the zoning to further that vision. 

Although the college trustees control the sale of the campus, Bagg said the town should get ahead of the game and start planning for the future, since zoning changes typically take a year or more to enact. He also stressed that the town needs to think not only of what residents want, but what is economically feasible. 

At its August 31 meeting, the Town Council expressed a preference for adding a variety of types of housing at the site, affordable and market-rate, from single-family homes to apartments or mixed-use buildings, to senior housing. Bagg noted that the town needs a little of each type of housing and is also looking to expand the tax base. 

Bockelman thought that, in the sale of the property,  the trustees would take into account the original mission of Hampshire College “to foster a lifelong passion for learning, inquiry, and ethical citizenship that inspires students to contribute to knowledge, justice, and positive change in the world, while transforming higher education.”

For now, most of the campus is shuttered. Amherst’s Recreation Department is using the swimming pool at the Robert Crown for its programs, especially while the middle school pool is out of commission. About 180 students are on campus finishing their degrees. They are all housed in Enfield House. After the campus closes completely in December, the trustees will need to provide security.

Maria Kopicki urged the town to consider not only tax revenue, but the expenses that are incurred with any projects and developments, such as increased fire and police coverage and road and other infrastructure needs. Bagg acknowledged this, but said that it was too early in the rezoning process to calculate these figures.

District 2 councilor Lynn Griesemer said the fastest-growing population in Amherst is seniors. She advocated for a continuing care facility at the site, saying that seniors would be more likely to sell their single-family homes if there was a desirable place for them to move into in town. 

Jason Dorney suggested that the town encourage small local developers to build a few houses, rather than turning the campus over to large developers who would construct large rental buildings. He also spoke for decreasing the minimum lot size throughout town to encourage more density. 

In addition to the Hampshire campus, Bagg outlined other zoning initiatives that the town is undertaking—the East Amherst zoning study, the downtown design standards, and the re-use of Wildwood School. He said that the consultants working on the Hampshire campus hope to have a proposal ready by the end of the year. The town will then hold public hearings during the spring.