Northampton City Hall, fall 2006
The community conversation had wafted away from the Smith College Educational Use Overlay District fiasco in the fall of 2006. Evidently with the electorate distracted by Sustainability Plan activities, a porn shop, a statewide race for governor and a myriad of other activities, Northampton officials failed to follow special permit and site plan approval procedures as outlined in the city code with regards to the Hilton Garden Inn. Raising the stakes officials signed a contract with the Pioneer Valley Hotel Group before their project was granted site plan approval. Other recent activities regarding the Academy of Music, the city’s group health insurance eligibility policy and the situation with the Hilton Garden Inn reveal signs of an administration run amok.
So many points to consider…
- Will the Pioneer Valley Hotel Group alter their design sufficiently to appease restless residents that showed up in large numbers for a grass roots public forum on June 27?
- Can the Planning Board return the project to the Central Business Architecture Committee for further review? Should they?
- Can the Planning Board alter the buildings’ setbacks legally?
- Could the hotel be constructed taller thereby allowing for a smaller footprint?
- Is the building footprint as approved for the special permit process last fall the same footprint before the Planning Board today? Was there a footprint?
- Are the property lines as drawn accurate?
- Why were Planning Board members so fearful of attending a public forum to hear the community’s concerns?
- The public forum was largely unattended by members of the city council and other city officials as well. Is there anything to be learned at resident sponsored forums?
- Shardool Parmar, president of the Pioneer Valley Hotel Group, should be commended for his willingness to participate in the citizen forum when so many city officials opted out. He promised that the design which was current as of June 27 would not be the final product.
- Will the city be sued if the hotel proceeds as planned without modifications?
- Will the city be sued if the hotel does not gain approval?
- What is the status of the lawsuit already under way regarding this project? How much is the suit costing city taxpayers in legal fees?
- Does a net gain of 14 parking spaces by themselves justify the hotel-garage project?
- Could the city reduce the parking requirement allowing the developer to spend more money on the buildings’ and Pulaski Park’s aesthetics?
- Will this project impact the restoration of the Mill River?
- How will emissions and noise from the garage impact tenants of the apartments?
- Will the construction of the hotel increase tourism and aide downtown merchants?
- Is downtown in a state of decline as stated by a panelist at the forum?
- Why did the city sign a contract with the Pioneer Valley Hotel Group BEFORE site plan approval for the hotel-garage was granted? The hotel group now stands to lose the $200 thousand they’ve invested in this project if the project is not approved by the planning board.
- Is Northampton unfriendly to business?
- How will the introduction of a new hotel with 106 rooms impact existing hotels generally and city occupancy taxes specifically?
- Will this hotel add to the uniqueness of downtown?
- Will there be a traffic study conducted by the proponent?
- The Director of Planning asserts that building setback requirements as established by the zoning regulations outlined in the Central Business District cannot be altered by the planning board because of M.G.L. c. 40A, s. 4, the state statute requiring uniformity. Yet the city established an educational use overlay district with different height restrictions within that district.
- A few years ago the city passed zoning regulations that limit the size of buildings that can be placed along King Street known as the "big box" ordinances. Now city officials have deemed it wise to allow Smith College to remove a neighborhood in the Green Street-Belmont Avenue area in order to construct three 140,000 square foot educational facilities, buildings that would be larger than what is permitted on King Street. Moreover, the city seems poised to allow a big box type hotel on Main Street that would be more appropriately located on King Street. Why is the city taking such a stand regarding development on King Street while at the same time allowing Main Street and Green Street to be taken over by big boxes? Many people of moderate to low income appreciate the big box retailers of the world, where they can purchase goods at affordable prices. While I supported the big box ordinances for King Street, I also support preserving the downtown area from being overrun by big boxes as well.
- It seems our urban ecological patches are disappearing under the guise of smart growth. For example consider the former wooded area on the corner of Dewey Court and South Street that was infilled with an historic house relocated from Bridge Street. Now the slope behind Pulaski Park which is home to an assortment of trees and undergrowth will be gone with the advent of the new hotel. The Route 10-Easthampton Road business park is under way with one new building having been carved into the woods with more to follow thus continuing the strangulation of that wildlife corridor. 31 residential units are planned off North Street alarmingly close to wetlands.
- Sprawling luxury single-use developments like those at Bear Hill Estates on Bridge Road in Florence are approved while hotels are proposed almost on top of affordable housing units on New South Street. How is this not a form of class-ism?
- Was the request for proposal (RFP) process the best that it could be?
- Could the proposed hotel dumpster and its hydraulic system be placed elsewhere?
- How would the city fight a fire in the future alley between the New South Street apartments and the hotel?
- Could the hotel be stepped back in order to create more light and air for the South Street apartments?
- Why does the mainstream media ignore covering public meetings like the recent Round House parking lot cleanup update as hosted by Bay State Gas and the two Central Business Architect Committee public hearings on the hotel design?
