Five Vie for Three Open Positions on Planning Board

The Community Resources Committee (CRC) of the Town Council will hold interviews over Zoom for the three open Planning Board positions at 3 p.m. on Thursday, June 12. The terms of current members Bruce Coldham and Karin Winter expire on June 30, but they are eligible for reappointment because they have only served one term. Both have applied for reappointment. Also applying are Steven KaCey, Angus McLeod, and Jerah Smith. The third vacancy occurred when Lawrence Kluttz, who was appointed in August, 2024 resigned from the board in April. 

There are seven members on the Planning Board, and each serves a three-year term. The continuing members are Chair Doug Marshall, Fred Hartwell, Jesse Mager, and Johanna Neumann. The Planning Board decides on issues that involve land use, review of the Zoning Bylaw, proposed zoning bylaw amendments, and approval of proposed developments for commercial, office, and residential projects. The Planning Board developed the town’s Master Plan in 2010, which was adopted by the Town Council in November, 2020. 

The statements of interest of the five candidates can be read in the CRC packet for the upcoming meeting.

Bruce Coldham has been a member of the Planning Board for the past three years, and previously served from 1995 to 2003. He is a retired architect who was instrumental in the purchase of the North Amherst Farm and the development of Pine Street Cohousing. He currently serves on the Elementary School Building Committee and served for eight years on the Local Historic District Commission.  In his statement of interest, he writes, “I am intimately familiar with group decision-making processes through five years of creating and then 25 years of living in the Pine Street cohousing community here in north Amherst. As an active resident of our community, collaboration, flexibility and compromise have been part of my life experience for all of the past 30 years. And I have come to appreciate the value of striving for consensus in group decisions which, though arduous, does yield sounder and more durable choices.” 

Karin Winter has also served on the Planning Board for the past three years and has been on the Local Historic District Commission for six years. She states that although she has lived in Amherst since 1979, she has traveled widely and has lived in other countries for extended periods. As a result of this experience, she said, “I am continually looking at how other communities, often very different but nevertheless inspiring, solve their own development conundrums.” She added, “One of my strengths has always been open mindedness and listening to disparate viewpoints from residents, as well as experts. Having served on the board for three years now, I’ve put that skill to use but also learned to access more resources and achieve deeper insight.”

Jerah Smith recently moved to Amherst with his family after growing up in Franklin County. He has a Master’s Degree in Community Planning. He stated, “One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is how to recognize good development from bad. Good development reflects local values, provides long-term benefits, and fits the context of the place. Bad development overwhelms infrastructure, ignores neighborhood needs, or misses opportunities to advance shared goals like affordability, sustainability, and walkability.” He said he would take the vision of the Master Plan into account in his decisions, that he is collaborative, and would “approach this work with humility and a commitment to listening and learning.”

Angus McLeod is also a new Amherst resident with a young family. He is an assistant professor at Amherst College who studies school finance. He states, “While my experiences do not fit the Planning Board’s needs for an architect, planner, lawyer, or engineer, I am familiar with much of the language of civil planning and believe I could contribute other forms of knowledge that could enhance discussions around planning.” He cites experience working on a committee at his church in Philadelphia, which was searching for a new pastor. Of Amherst’s Master Plan, he said, “What strikes me most about the Master Plan is the willingness to acknowledge conflicting goals and interests as a way of tasking the Planning Board and other town committees with working to find common ground.”

Steven KaCey had applied to be a nonvoting member of the Finance Committee in July, 2024, but was not chosen. He grew up in Amherst and is currently a student, but has worked as a real estate analyst, a property appraiser, and a building inspector for residential and commercial properties. He states that he has experience in examining building blue prints and designs and in finding information involving land in Massachusetts General Laws. “Learning from and sharing with others is a collaborative approach that I very much enjoy. It is my belief that many viewpoints provide an opportunity for a deeper understanding of materials, practices, and procedures,” he said. “As a scholar, my courses have increasingly become focused on building architecture, sustainable engineering, and community environments. Legal studies have always been of interest which may lead me down a path to becoming an attorney.”

Input from Planning Board Chair on Desired Qualifications
Planning Board Chair Doug Marshall submitted the following list of qualifications to be used as selection criteria for new board members:

Minimum qualifications: 

1. Fair and open-minded. 

2. Willing to reconsider previous positions when presented with new information.

3. A team player, willing to collaborate and compromise. 

4. Committed to attending nearly all Board meetings (2-3 times/month, typically 3-4 hours each). 

5. Willing to review the meeting packets, attend site visits, and otherwise prepare in advance for each meeting. Total time commitment for preparation and meeting attendance is approximately 5-12 hours per meeting. 

6. A positive attitude about advancing and balancing Amherst’s multiple development goals as described in the Town Master Plan through the Town’s Planning Board process. 

Preferred qualifications: 

1. Analytic reasoning approach. 

2. Clear and concise communication style. 

3. Ability to read design & construction drawings.

4. Professional experience in a related field, including urban planning, zoning, landscape architecture, civil engineering, architecture and design, construction, real estate development, and real estate law. Relevant experience allows new members to quickly become contributing members of the Board.

 5. An understanding of the Town system of governance, boards, and committees. 

6. Contributes to geographic, economic, age, employment, and length of residency diversity.

Marshall said that the ideal candidates would balance the expertise of continuing Board members so that all areas of relevant experience are represented. The Board members whose terms are expiring are a retired architect and a community member. The continuing Board members consist of a sustainability advocate and fundraiser, an architect/planner, and three interested citizens without relevant professional experience, but two of whom have experience as landlords. “Given the makeup of the continuing Board members, I would recommend prioritizing candidates with expertise in areas potentially lost with departing/expiring members or areas otherwise not well represented,” he said. “Underrepresented areas of particular benefit would be, first, an architect, landscape architect, or planner, and second, a civil engineer, especially with expertise in traffic and stormwater engineering. An attorney or member with real estate development expertise, though less pressing, would also be beneficial.” 

Interview Questions for the June 12 Zoom Interviews
As in previous interview sessions, CRC members will ask the same questions of each candidate with a different order for each session. After the interviews are complete, CRC members will deliberate about which candidates to recommend to the Town Council. In the last two rounds of interview sessions, the full council has approved different candidates than those recommended by the CRC (see here and here).

The questions for the candidates are:

1. What prompted you to apply to serve on the Planning Board? 

2. What experience, knowledge, or expertise might you bring to the Planning Board that can make it successful? Please include any experience you have appearing before or serving on the Planning Board or ZBA or watching one of their meetings. 

3. Tell us about an experience you have had collaborating with a group, particularly where opinions conflicted, or the decision was controversial?

4. Describe how the Planning Board can help achieve the goals of the Master Plan. 

5. Please describe the considerations and objectives you’ll use for considering proposed revisions to the zoning bylaws. 

6. What is your approach to incorporating public input into your decision making? 

7. There are 8 Strategies in the Draft Housing Production Plan (see pages 122-128, and 150-151) that list the Planning Board with partial lead responsibility for implementation. Which 2 or 3 of these strategies have the most potential and why? 

8. What else would you like us to know about you that makes you a strong candidate for the Planning Board?

9. Please confirm you have the time to commit to meetings, hearings, and site visits. And if you currently serve on any Town boards or committees, do you see any conflicts with serving on multiple boards and can you manage the time commitment for all?