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Date: 7/5/2023
AGAWAM — Town officials are considering a zoning amendment that would allow homeowners in Residence A-3 districts to finish their basements with living spaces, but specifically outlaws bedrooms or kitchens in basements.
Agawam resident Susan Grossberg told the City Council on June 20 that this proposal does not go far enough, saying it’s “letting single-family homeowners increase their square footage … and at the same time excluding potentially affordable basement apartments.”
If basements were opened to bedrooms and kitchens, Grossberg said, they could provide a semi-independent home for seniors looking to stay in town but downsize, or young adults hoping to set up their own household but lacking the income for a larger property.
She said the council had already, in March, removed multi-family dwellings from the list of acceptable uses in a Business A district, also restricting the ability to bring more apartments into Agawam. Grossberg said these are “exclusionary zoning” practices and quoted author Matthew Desmond, who labeled suburban policies that focus on expensive single-family homes as “the devious legal minutiae we’ve developed to keep low-income families out of high-opportunity neighborhoods.”
Grossberg said she would like to see the council reject the A-3 zoning amendment and reverse its vote on the Business A zoning amendment.
The Planning Board has a public hearing on the Residence A-3 zone change scheduled during its July 6 meeting, which begins at 6 p.m. in the Senior Center, 954 Main St., Agawam. The City Council did not discuss the amendment at its June 20 meeting, but referred it to the Legislative Committee and set a City Council public hearing for Aug. 7.