To see how Smart Growth policies might affect Northampton, we can look to the experience of those who are farther down the path. The experience of the Portland metro area raises concerns. Restricting sites that can be developed boosts home prices. Homeownership rates can suffer, especially among minorities and those with lower incomes. Buyers who want affordable homes with yards […]
Continue reading Metro Portland’s Long Experience with Smart Growth: A Cautionary Tale
Metropolitan Portland has been grappling with issues of Smart Growth for years. Its Nature in Neighborhoods program recognizes that greenspace is an important amenity for residents: The Portland metropolitan region is set in an exceptional natural landscape. It is surrounded by hills and mountains and laced with rivers and streams. It is a region of national […]
Historic Northampton hosts a 6 minute 30 second video on the 1936 Connecticut River flood. View it with Windows Media Player. You will see several feet of water swirling around familiar roads and buildings. This flood imposed $400,000 worth of damage on the city at that time (1936 dollars). Cleanup was a time-consuming process. In the ensuing decade, the Army Corps […]
Proponents of Northampton’s new wetlands buffer zone regime, which authorizes development as close as 10 feet to wetlands in nine zoning districts, tried to reassure critics by saying developers wouldn’t automatically be entitled to get that close. The reality, however, is Northampton’s Conservation Commission will now be on the defensive whenever it asks developers for more […]
Continue reading Gazette guest column: “Don’t ease controls on wetlands”
We are glad to see that maintenance of Northampton’s drainage systems is on the agenda of the next Conservation Commission meeting. Failing systems were an issue during the recent debates over wetlands regulation. Northampton Conservation CommissionAgendaDate: Thursday October 25, 2007Time: 5:30 PMPlace: City Hall Hearing Room (use back door or main Crafts Avenue door) 2nd […]
Continue reading Maintenance of Drainage Systems on Conservation Commission Agenda for October 25
Stormwater, the Journal for Surface Water Quality Professionals, discusses the challenges of maintaining stormwater management systems (September 2007): Jacobson [Jake Jacobson, general manager with Escondido, CA–based Downstream Services] saw some filters neglected so severely that they’d be completely clogged with plastic bags, soggy newspapers, and forgotten fast food containers. He’d see retention ponds overgrown with invasive species, […]
The lead editorial in today’s Gazette calls for improvements in our system of environmental compliance: “Protecting the environment”…the state has abdicated its responsibility to developers, who are essentially allowed to monitor themselves by hiring their own environmental consultants. Meanwhile, local conservation commissions are finding there are limits to what they can do to ensure compliance […]
Continue reading Gazette editorial: “Protecting the environment”
The lead article in today’s Gazette discusses how in Massachusetts, “land developers are often responsible for policing environmental standards on their own projects”. Concerns are raised about weak compliance, underscoring why the North Street Neighborhood Association derives little comfort from phrases like “extraordinary mitigation” in the new wetlands ordinance. Developers’ plans typically look good on paper, but the real-world […]
Continue reading Gazette: “Should developers police own projects?”
The September 27 Republican reports that the city of Greenfield will buy and raze a 4-family house on Beacon Street to resolve persistent flooding problems there: “The deal will allow the city to avoid the costly installation of larger culverts to keep an underground brook from flooding the property…“The development has eliminated a large amount […]
Continue reading Greenfield’s Quarter-Million-Dollar Flooding Fix Includes Razing a 4-Family House
In a 7-2 vote, Northampton’s City Council gave its final approval to the new Wetlands Ordinance on Thursday night.Those voting in favor:Councilor At-Large Michael BardsleyWard 1 Councilor Maureen CarneyWard 2 Councilor Paul SpectorWard 3 Councilor Marilyn RichardsWard 4 Councilor David NarkewiczWard 5 Councilor David MurphyWard 6 Councilor Marianne LaBargeThose voting against:Councilor At-Large James DostalWard 7 […]
Continue reading City Council Enacts New Wetlands Ordinance, Including 10-Foot Buffers