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Date: 8/30/2022
AMHERST – The Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) unanimously approved a second special permit for Michael Holden to construct a new, owner-occupied, single-family home on the rear portion of the existing property with a duplex located at 1147 N. Pleasant St. during an Aug. 25 meeting.
The ZBA passed the special permit for Holden with the condition that at least one of the units on the property remain owner-occupied for the length of Holden’s ownership. The condition allows Holden and his spouse the option to move into one of the smaller units in the duplex after his three kids have moved out while avoiding all of the properties being converted into rental units.
“This proposal is to build an owner-occupied dwelling unit, I’m not looking to add apartment units,” Holden said. “The property was already approved for the non-owner occupied duplex in the front and this is an opportunity to build an owner-occupied home on the property.”
Holden said his family moved to the larger section of the duplex last September from a private residence located in the woods in Bernardston. Holden has two daughters in high school and a 10-year-old son, saying that the kids used to complain about being far away from friends.
“For us, this is a long-term investment in the neighborhood and by investment, I mean for our family,” Holden said. “When we made the decision to move to Amherst, we wanted to improve opportunities for our children. Since September, my kids have fallen in love with the town, they’ve fallen in love with the neighborhood. We have a bus stop directly in front of our house, my 10-year-old can ride his bike to the Mill River playground area.”
Two Amherst residents displayed concern about Holden’s plans during the public comment period, saying they thought without an indefinite condition of having an indefinite owner-occupied requirement that the house would sooner or later be converted to a rental property.
Jessica Mix Barrington said she first commented on Holden’s plans 15 years ago when he purchased the property and didn’t retain the residence located where Holden plans to build the new house. Mix Barrington said all the homes in that area are Colonial or Greek Revival-style and said she wanted the exterior of the new house to reflect the architectural qualities of the nearby houses.
“Too bad that 15 years ago he didn’t retain the single-family house that was on the property already, then he could easily build his accessory dwelling with no problem,” Mix Barrington said. “However, I have two concerns: I don’t know that the picture that was shown is in any way reflective of reality, but I would like to point out that the homes on North Pleasant Street and around the corner onto Pine and down a bit are in the National Historic District … I would also like to say that if it is possible, I would like the property to be forever designated owner-occupied, that there always has to be an owner on that property in order to make it a legal holding.”
Similarly, Kathleen Anderson said she was concerned that the proposal will remain an owner-occupied building, saying that the area has seen rampant growth in housing converted to student rentals recently.
Holden affirmed that he would accept the condition to keep at least one unit owner-occupied and said that while the area largely features Colonial and Greek Style exteriors, there is a mix of housing and his plan garnered prior approval from the Planning Board.
“It’s very simple and clean, and there is a mix [of houses] although primarily Colonial and Greek Revival in the neighborhood,” Holden said. “The response I got from the Planning Board was that the design, architecture style and plan fit well into the neighborhood.”
The house is still in early design stages, but Holden said the plans are to side the house with Boral, a product that uses recycled material and “lasts forever, holds paint and cuts and looks like wood.” The house will feature four bedrooms and three and a half bathrooms.
ZBA Chair Steve Judge said he was in favor of the application with the condition that a unit on the property remains owner-occupied before the ZBA unanimously approved Holden’s application.
“It seems to make sense to me that we’re adding a family into a neighborhood, an owner-occupied property,” Judge said. “We are not adding additional renters to the front, there is enough room, it meets all of the dimensional requirements by the town and it seems to me that in general it doesn’t disrupt the neighborhood to have an additional, single-family home on this large property.”