Amherst planners studying higher-density housing for East Amherst village center

AMHERST — Town planners may pursue more multifamily housing and other types of developments that could increase building density in the East Amherst village center.

Using a community planning grant for $70,000, the Planning Department is looking at what sort of zoning changes could help bolster the amount of affordable housing in that part of town, possibly through the creation of a Chapter 40R smart growth zoning district.

At the Planning Board meeting Wednesday, March 4, planner Walker Powell said the study will propose a best strategy for the area and lead to a proposal including the zoning language and boundaries. The expectation is for that to be finished by June 30, 2027.

“We’re hoping that the process will not just lead to a study, but also lead to actual implementation of something that will make change happen sooner than later,” Powell said.

The study area is mostly along College Street, from just east of the Amherst College campus and extending to a short section of Belchertown Road, as well as encompassing part of South East Street and the Colonial Village Apartments property.

Powell said the project is independent from the efforts to create an East Amherst local historic district that is mostly along Main Street and a portion of South East Street near the East Street common. That district would aim to protect historic buildings, including many that date to before the Civil War, and include the Jewish Community of Amherst, which is housed in the former Second Congregational Church at 742 Main St., and the Clapp Tavern at 6 South East St., opened in 1737 and believed to have been the site of meetings to plan Daniel Shay’s Rebellion.

Planning Board Chairman Doug Marshall said his concern is to focus the study on housing to the exclusion of commercial activity, with numerous businesses that exist along most of the north side of College Street, though development of the south side has been more limited due to the Amherst College Wildlife Sanctuary.

Marshall said he wonders if this would squeeze out the businesses.

“I would hope if we’re going to rezone this area, that we’d do something to try to make it easier for commercial to happen,” Marshsall said.

Planning Board member Jesse Mager said the study also needs to make sure there is an awareness of providing student-appropriate housing and that, while not close to the University of Massachusetts campus, these should be included. As he puts it, there is a need for “more housing stock for that population.”

Agreeing that there is a huge unmet need for student housing, member Bruce Coldham also called for that to be part of the scope of the study.

Nate Malloy, assistant director of Planning & Economic Development, said what can be done to address the pressures of student housing is among other staff initiatives.

Malloy noted that a housing subcommittee of the Planning Board still likes possible rezoning and infill in North Amherst as a way to address this shortage of housing, though there has been pushback from some residents that it is not appropriate to try to make the existing apartment complexes denser.

Part of the question for rezoning centers around whether the town can define a student home without running into legal issues. Coldham presented information about how student homes are defined in State College, Pennsylvania, the home of Penn State University.

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