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Date: 6/8/2022
AMHERST – The Amherst Zoning Board of Appeals saw a presentation and discussed updates to the plans of new duplexes and apartment buildings at the corner of Sunset Avenue and Fearing Street during its meeting on May 26. The new housing units are located right across from the Southwest corner of the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Board Chair Steve Judge said that with recent updates to the plans including significant changes and progress on the application, he did not anticipate being able to fully consider and vote on the application at the meeting but instead wanted to use it for everyone to ask questions and have a full understanding of the request.
Tom Reidy, an attorney with Bacon Wilson P.C. in Amherst represented Barry Roberts, a well-known property manager and longtime resident of Amherst. The updated request was for a special permit to allow the construction of two apartment buildings and four duplex buildings.
“As we go through the changes, you’ll see that they’re all improvements, they’re all relatively simple but when you update one sheet, you end up updating all these other sheets associated with it,” Reidy said. “We don’t just give you the site plan and the landscape plan, we give you every plan that these changes touch on so that’s why it might seem voluminous, but ultimately, I think when you see or hear the changes, you’ll realize that they are pretty simple.”
The original proposal was for 17 total housing units and 59 beds. That was broken down into four two-bedrooms, one three-bedroom and 12 four-bedrooms. Reidy said that after Roberts heard feedback from neighbors, they decided to look at reducing the number of four-bedroom units and making more of a variety of units.
The new proposal is for 53 beds and 22 units. The units increase but beds decrease with added studio apartments and three affordable units versus two in the previous iteration. Reidy said they also added an on-site management office for tenants to have regular access for any maintenance issues, complaints or otherwise.
“Housing is a need; it’s finding the right mixture of housing to get the right tenants in there in the dimensional restrictions that we’re under,” Reidy said. “It’s kind of a numbers game to make the project viable because construction costs now are incredible. It was the neighbor comment plus 1 University Dr. is all studios and one-bedrooms, 7 University Dr. has studios, one-bedrooms, two-bedrooms and three-bedrooms, and talking to Barry and the neighbors, he thought it was good to diversify a bit more.
“We thought it was a nice balance with the four-bedrooms because we don’t necessarily expect all four bedrooms to be filled,” Reidy continued. “It could be a family of three or four with two parents sharing a bedroom and an extra office space or otherwise. Barry will tell you, there will likely be undergraduates here and I think you saw it from our management discussion, we’re not excluding anybody.”
As the floor opened for questions, Board member Craig Meadows pointed out the public parking along Fearing St. is always packed during the school year. The new complex plans on utilizing that space for private parking.
“I’m curious how you’re anticipating keeping visitors and students from Southwest out of the parking areas,” Meadows said. “Every time I’ve gone down Fearing St. during this semester, it is completely parked up and people are looking for spaces. Have you got a thought on how you’re going to keep those spaces you’re designating for tenants and visitors?”
Reidy said it comes down to diligent management and a parking management system that they have. He said residents will have stickers to affix to their car and registration of visitors that are staying for any extended period of time.
“If we see the same visitor over and over and over, it’ll be posted that those vehicles will be towed,” Reidy said. “And I think Barry will tell you, all it takes is towing a few times for people to get the message that this is a private parking area.”
Board member Dillon Maxfield asked about the expected cost of rent. Reidy said that the affordable housing rate for studios is around $700, for one-bedrooms $800 to $900 and two-bedrooms $1,100 to $1,200. He added that the market rate for studios is $1,500 to $2,050, for one-bedroom $1,600 to $2,100, for two-bedrooms $2200 to $3000, three-bedrooms $3,000 to $3,900 and four bedrooms $3,700 to $4,500.
“I think one of the things that Tom points out that we have to be very careful is that we don’t discriminate,” Roberts said. “We sent out the expectations about the financial capability, the expected behavior, etcetera but it’s a slippery slope so you have to be careful. Mr. Judge, you started to mention that the price determines some of the ability of people to be in the project. We require for most, if they are an undergraduate student, usually they do not have the wherewithal on their financial statement to show that they can afford our apartments, so we require a parent or guardian signature to the lease, and they actually become partied to the lease.”
The public comment period to close the meeting was brief but saw Ken Rosenthal, one of neighbors to the complex submit his approval and offer recommendations to ensure that the board sticks to its plans of maintaining a civil living community even decades from now when the buildings are under a new manager.
“I want to first thank Barry Roberts for the time he spent with the neighbors, we really appreciate his being there,” Rosenthal said. “I’ve known Barry Roberts for decades and Barry does what he says he’s going to do and I think we really appreciate as neighbors having had a chance to speak with him.”