Fran Volkmann is a former member of the Northampton City Council and the Planning Board. In Tuesday’s Gazette, she expresses concern about how the Planning Board handled the Hilton Garden Inn proposal. Many of the issues she mentions also arise with Kohl Construction’s condo proposal for North Street. The zoning ordinance lists a number of […]
Continue reading Fran Volkmann: Planning Board Needs to Consider Proposals in their Broader Context
The Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions provides a convenient list of wetlands regulations from cities across the state. Here we excerpt and emphasize portions of Attleboro’s regulations, as adopted in 2004 (MS Word file). 4.7 VERNAL POOLSThe Ordinance recognizes Vernal Pools as a protected Wetland Resource Area. The area within 100 feet of the mean […]
Continue reading Attleboro, MA: Evaluating and Protecting Vernal Pools; Stormwater Modeling
On April 17, 2006, the Creeks Task Force of Berkeley, CA approved recommendations (PDF) to balance development with wetlands protection. Here are selected passages that have relevance to the debate over Northampton’s wetlands ordinances. Wenger (1999) contains a review and synthesis of “over 140 articles and books…to establish a legally-defensible basis for determining riparian buffer […]
Continue reading Protecting Creeks in Berkeley, CA; Value of Buffer Zones
The North Street Neighborhood Association will present 859 petition signatures at today’s City Council meeting. This includes 613 signatures from residents of Northampton and 246 from non-residents. The petitions began circulating on July 21. The City Council meeting will take place at 7:15pm in City Hall, 210 Main Street, in the second floor hearing room. Concerned citizens are […]
Continue reading NSNA To Present 859 Petition Signatures to City Council Today
We encourage all concerned citizens to attend Thursday’s City Council meeting (August 16). The public comment period begins at 7:15pm. The meeting will take place in the second floor hearing room in City Hall (210 Main Street). This room is smaller than the regular meetingplace, so we suggest you arrive a few minutes early to […]
Continue reading Reminder: City Council Meeting on August 16
Robert Bissell has kindly allowed us to publish the following statement on NorthAssoc.org…In a major disappointment for conservationists, the Vernal Pool provisions (PDF) were deleted from the Wetlands Ordinance at the Ordinance Committee meeting in late July. These provisions were the product of over two years’ worth of effort from concerned citizens, wetlands experts and members […]
Continue reading A Statement from Robert Bissell on the Wetland Ordinance Debate
These Belchertown Wetlands Regulations, dated May 23, 2006, may provide guidance as Northampton debates its own regulations. It notes the benefits wetlands provide and regulates development that encroaches within 100 feet of a wetland. Developers are required to model watershed behavior during 2-, 10- and 100-year storms. Regulations of vernal pools are integrated into the general discussion of wetlands […]
[Revised August 7, 2007]Northampton’s Planning Board and City Council Industry Committee endorsed the “Grow Smart Northampton” (PDF) plan in 2003. This plan, a precursor to recent Sustainable Northamption planning, does support infill. Specifically, the plan suggests, “Increase by 10 percent the density of housing in and within walking distance of downtown.” (p.13)At the same time, […]
Continue reading Safety Valves to Infill: The Grow Smart Northampton Plan of 2003
Lew Weitzman, a member of the Alewife Study Group, provides a valuable discussion of wetlands issues and regulatory approaches in “Cambridge’s wetland protection laws – ideas for improvement” (1999). It would be a shame if excessive infill development in Northampton led to the problems experienced in Cambridge. Here are selected passages from Weitzman: Background to the […]
Continue reading Alewife Study Group: Impact of Development on Wetlands and Flooding
To help fulfill Northampton’s vision as a progressive, environmentally-aware community, we will be presenting ordinances from other Massachusetts communities relating to trees and wetlands. Here is a bylaw from Hopkinton’s Wetlands Protection Regulations (PDF) requiring a 100-foot buffer zone around intermittent (and continuous) streams. We note that just such an intermittent stream, Millyard Brook, runs through the […]
Continue reading Intermittent Streams Merit a 100-Foot Buffer Zone in Hopkinton