Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 1/10/2023
AMHERST – On Jan. 4 the Amherst Planning Board viewed and discussed revised plans for a renovation of existing buildings at 10, 12 and 22 Belchertown Rd. to create transitional housing for patrons of ServiceNet, a Western Massachusetts nonprofit which provides services for people dealing with mental health issues, homelessness, addiction and more. This discussion was a continuation of the Dec. 7, 2022, meeting on the same topic.
Connor Burgess, a general counsel at ServiceNet, explained the project as temporary housing for people who are availing of ServiceNet and are in the process of being connected with permanent housing.
“The intent of this [development] is truly transitional housing. What we’re looking at here is when someone is coming into services or ServiceNet, sometimes they don’t have permanent housing, so we’re looking for a temporary solution to house those individuals while they work with our housing specialists. The services rendered on the property are really going to depend on the needs of the individual; most of it will revolve around housing and getting people to and from appointments,” Burgess said.
Ryan Nelson of R Levesque Associates, the architecture firm representing ServiceNet on this project, said that the drawings being shown at the meeting were the product of edits made in responses to concerns voiced by the board at the Dec. 7, 2022, meeting.
“We’ve taken into account a lot of the feedback from our last meeting. One example of that was there was some concern over the clarity of the plan, it was very busy with a lot going on. So we’ve broken down the plan, we’ve added a second sheet [of drawings] that details the technicalities up close of the grading, the parking, the ramps, the landscaping,” Nelson said.
Nelson shared some of the details which had been amended.
“We have added an open space lot coverage calculation table to the plan and we have incorporated a conversion of a portion of the distant parking lot to a greenspace … That conversion reduces the overall lot coverage for the site. We’re also incorporating those Conservation Commission requests for mitigation along the stream. We’ve also added plantings as screenings along the side of the parking area to help screen residents against that southerly property … We’ve added railings to both sides of the individual staircases servicing the units,” Nelson said.
The board discussed the new blueprints for roughly an hour and a half. The board was satisfied with some of the changes that had been made, but still had concerns over some of the smaller details of the project; additionally, a series of extenuating factors in the personal lives of team members working on the project had delayed aspects of the project. Eventually board member Janet McGowan moved to continue the meeting at a future meeting to conserve time.
“I was going to suggest that we continue [the discussion at a later date] because given that the architect has been ill, there’s been a death in the family, holidays, it seems like we have a lot of little details that need to be remedied. If we’re going to try to address what we want to see as conditions and draft them here, this meeting will go on forever. I don’t think that’s what’s will be helpful. I think it will just be faster if we just continue to another meeting,” McGowan said.
The motion passed; the board will continue the discussion at its Jan. 18 meeting.