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Date: 1/5/2022
AMHERST – The first Town Council of Amherst met for their final time together on Dec. 20 before the new year brought in the second council, but there was still a pressing issue to go over on the agenda.
After multiple meetings with deliberation on the topic, the Town Council approved in a 9-4 vote – meeting the necessary two-thirds majority to adopt a zoning change – to create a parking facility overlay for the existing municipal lot between North Pleasant and North Prospect streets. Often referred to as the CVS lot, this overlay is located right at that location and south of the Jones Library.
District 4 Councilor Evan Ross, who has worked in leading the rezoning work, was in favor of making this move.
“I am more optimistic for the future of downtown more than I have been in a really long time,” Ross said. “These changes are being made to make Amherst a regional destination. This zoning measure is a first step toward creating centralized destination parking in the heart of our downtown.”
The change has had support from the business community as part of the Destination Amherst initiative to address the growth of downtown business in town. One councilor opposed to the change was District 3 Councilor Dorothy Pam, who voted against the change, as she said she has heard from enough residents living on North Prospect Street that they are strongly against a new parking garage so close to the residential neighborhood.
The three other councilors who voted against the change were Cathy Schoen, Sarah Swartz, and Darcy Dumont. The three councilors expressed each that there was no rush to get this passed, especially if it was only to create zoning guidelines for a future garage and not the actual vote on a garage, which has been a misunderstanding for some during the process.
Public comments were once again overwhelmingly in opposition of the zoning changes and speakers urged the council to wait and explore other possible locations for a project such as this.
Council President Lynn Griesemer, who voted in favor of the changes, said that even though she made her vote, that she was still not certain this would be the best location for a possible parking garage.
At-Large Councilor Alisa Brewer, who voted in favor of the zoning change, expressed unhappiness with the idea that councilors in favor of the changes were rushing the process and were working in the interest of possible garage developers.
“I’m really weary of the few members of the public who believe that town councilors who support this parking overlay could only be doing so because they’re in the pockets of developers, which is patently ridiculous,” Brewer said. “Just simply ridiculous and incredibly offensive to the hard work of these town councilors.”
At-Large Councilor Andy Steinberg said more studies would be necessary and that he hopes the Amherst Business Improvement District will support those. Steinberg’s caution comes from the concern of the public and others that with the zoning change comes the garage as well when the two are separate and the bylaw change allows for the future development of a parking garage if the town approves it. Steinberg also added that the town could explore making existing parking more prominent before any project is getting underway.
The other zoning changes made by the council was to require developers of mixed-use buildings to reserve at least 30 percent of the ground level for non-residential purposes and was adopted by a 12-1 vote. This change comes as the council wanted to establish a minimum percentage as the previous writing of the law had no specifics of any percentage in place.
Before the vote on the change, Schoen brought forth an amendment to the writing that brought the minimum percentage up to 35 percent, after previously failing in trying to get it to 40.
At-Large Councilor Mandi Jo Hanneke said that in a perfect world she agrees with the idea, but that going above the 30 percent threshold puts Amherst at risk of significant vacancies. Ultimately the council voted and adopted the changes creating the 30 percent threshold of ground level space reserved for non-residential purposes.
The First Council of Amherst says farewell
At the end of the meeting the councilors reflected on their three-year term and all they have accomplished and work through as a group. The six councilors leaving at the end of the term were celebrated with the council with toasts of sparkling cider in champagne glasses over Zoom.
Each member of the council received a bag of goodies and a framed photo of the 13-member council to celebrate and mark the end of the first Town Council of Amherst.
“It’s important to recognize the councilors who served on the inaugural council,” said Town Manager Paul Bockelman.
Griesemer led the toast and with praise and thanks to the members of the first council.
“We flew the plane while building it,” Griesemer said.
The councilors wrapping up their terms on the council are Swartz, Ross, Dumont, Brewer, Steve Schreiber and George Ryan.