North Street Neighborhood Association: District Attorney's Office Finds Plassmann, Tacy Did Not Violate Open Meeting Law

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Welcome to NSNA
The North Street Neighborhood Association (NSNA) is a community organization devoted to maintaining the quality of life in the North Street area of Northampton, Massachusetts. Our current priority is to preserve the size and quality of the woods between North Street and the bike trail, one of the few substantial stands of trees remaining in downtown Northampton. See pictures of our woods on Flickr.

These woods surround and buffer wetlands and Millyard Brook. A distinctive and beautiful feature of our neighborhood, the trees cool the air, moderate sound from I-91 and King Street, smell great, absorb water, and provide a habitat for deer and small animals of all kinds. Learn more about the many benefits of urban forests and wetlands.

Kohl Construction of Hadley has proposed to build 20 condo units with new roads and parking spaces on 5.59 acres of land that includes a substantial portion of these woods. See Kohl's latest proposal. The density and layout of these units are out of character with the surrounding neighborhood, and we are concerned it would pave over large amounts of scarce downtown greenspace, increase the risk of local flooding, and increase the parking and traffic loads on an already busy North Street and the side streets that lead from it.

The development is presently on hold pending the resolution of a lawsuit in Land Court regarding matters of title and rights-of-way.

Here are key articles relating to the proposed development:

Kohl Condo Proposal: Final Conditions and Covenants

Video: Conservation Commission Meeting of 9/10/09; Kohl Condos Approved

Special Permit As Issued to Kohl Construction for North Street Condos

Our Ad in the May 6 Gazette: "How to Avoid Classic Infill Design Mistakes"

State Offers Funds to Help Conserve North Street Woods

Northampton Residents Sue Developer Douglas Kohl to Resolve Questions of Title and Rights-of-Way

Tropical Storm Floyd Flood Damage Report (1999)

To contact NSNA, please email info@northassoc.org.
Photoshow: Our Woods
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1. Petition on North Street Reconstruction, with Video of BPW Discussion
  Friday, May 25, 2012
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3. North Street Reconstruction: Bid Set Layouts
  Friday, May 11, 2012
4. Video and Presentation: North Street Reconstruction, 3/6/12
  Wednesday, March 07, 2012
5. Video: Sewer Line Capacity Looms as Constraint on Industrial Park; Discharge from Coke Plant Is Triggering Extra Costs at WWTP
  Tuesday, March 06, 2012
6. Gazette: "Pothole-plagued North Street to get long-awaited reconstruction in Northampton"
  Tuesday, March 06, 2012
7. March 6: North Street Public Information Meeting
  Monday, February 20, 2012
8. Video: City Council Workshop on Proposed Charter
  Friday, February 10, 2012
9. BEAT Gets State To Update Its Stormwater Calculations
  Tuesday, February 07, 2012
10. Charter Drafting Committee Releases Narrative about Proposed Charter
  Thursday, February 02, 2012
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The Sustainable Northampton Plan

NSNA supports Northampton's efforts to discourage unmanaged sprawl. However, compact growth must not come at the expense of urban quality of life. It must be carefully managed to avoid disruptive changes to neighborhoods, surges in property taxes, crime, congestion, loss of greenspace, noise and pollution.

Zoning Revisions Committee Releases Final Report

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LA Times: "A hard road for the poor in need of cars"

The Urbanophile: "The Downside of Living Carless in a Small City"

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Houston Chronicle: "Density hasn’t been kind to Cottage Grove..."

Our Guest Article at Northampton Redoubt: "The Kohl condo proposal and the Struggle Over the Meaning of Infill"

Knoxville Infill Housing Design Guidelines: Lessons from Experience

Planners' Assumptions about Future Household Size and Car Usage May Prove Wrong

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Download Envisioning Sustainable Northampton - Final Notre Dame Studio Presentation Book

Envisioning Sustainable Northampton: Notre Dame Urban Design Presentation - Video and Handout

Valley Advocate Critiques Sustainable Northampton Plan

Good Cul-De-Sacs and Bad Ones

Rutherford Platt, "The Humane Micropolis" - Full Text

Today's Urban Planning Debates Echoed in Northampton's Near Past

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Final Sustainable Northampton Plan Now Ready to View

Planning Board Adopts Sustainable Northampton Plan

The New Draft Sustainable Northampton Plan: Balancing Compact Growth Against Taxes, Urban Greenspace, Homeowner Preferences

Our Column in Today's Gazette: The Hidden Risks of 'Smart Growth'

Portland: A Photo Tour of Spiraling Densification

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Portland Suburb Successfully Staves Off Densification

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LA Weekly: "City Hall's 'Density Hawks' Are Changing L.A.'s DNA

Scrape-Off Redevelopments Provoke Backlash in Denver Neighborhoods

Halle-Neustadt: A Case Study in Compact, Transit-Oriented Development

USA Today: "Push for urban parkland takes root"

U.S. News to Retirees: Choose a locale with plenty of greenspace

Greening Smart Growth: The Sustainable Sites Initiative

Rutherford Platt, "Regreening the Metropolis: Pathways to More Ecological Cities"

The Ecological Cities Project: Greenspace in "The Humane Metropolis"

Terrain.org: "Cultivating Natural and Cultural Landscapes through Conservation Subdivision Design"

MA Secy of Energy and Environmental Affairs: Urban Parks Deserve Protection as do Habitat Reserves and Working Landscapes

Smart Growth and Crime

Downtown house on "dead end street" in "rural setting" flies off market

Financial Incentives Distort Smart Growth Debates

Smart Growth Winners (Rich People) and Losers (Other People)

"Sprawl and Congestion—is Light Rail and Transit-Oriented Development the Answer?"

Energy-Efficient Personal Vehicles of the Near Future

NY Times Magazine: "The Autonomist Manifesto (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Road)"

Smart Growth: When Polls and Reality Diverge

Seeing Like a State: Planning Gone Awry in the 20th Century

Randal O'Toole: "The Folly of 'Smart Growth'"

Smart Growth with Balance: The American Planning Association

Energy Intensity Less in Single-Family Homes Than High-Rises

UMass Press: "Natural Land: Preserving and Funding Open Space"

Wendell Cox: "METROPOLITAN DENVER AT RISK: How Densification Will Intensify Traffic Congestion, Air Pollution and the Housing Affordability Crisis"

Suburban 'Raise the Drawbridge' Sentiment Motivates Some Smart Growth Policies

Smart Growth Hazard: A Confining Sameness

Metro Portland's Long Experience with Smart Growth: A Cautionary Tale

New York Times: "Vibrant Cities Find One Thing Missing: Children"

Berkeley, California: Cautions on Infill

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Pictures of Northampton Streets at Various Densities

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Syd Gernstein: "Brownfields Revitalization Cuts Urban Blight, Suburban Sprawl"

Natick Hailed as Example of How to Do Smart Growth Well

New York Times: The Green Alleys of Chicago

Large Lots Gobble Up Land in Massachusetts

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Sustainable Northampton: An Open Letter to the Cecil Group

Gazette Guest Column: "Give residents a role in city issues"
Urban Infill Design Guidelines

Making Smart Growth Better: Critiques, Guidelines, Cautions

Brookhaven, NY: Infill Design Guidelines in Two Pages

Toronto Urban Design Guidelines: Infill Townhouses

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Meet The Wetlands Ordinance

These articles discuss aspects of Northampton's Wetlands Ordinance, enacted by City Council on 10/4/07. This ordinance allows developers to encroach as close as 10 feet to wetlands in our more built-up areas. We are concerned that buffers this narrow are inadequate to protect the health of wetlands, avoid water pollution, or mitigate flooding. They also represent a loss of urban greenspace that keeps our neighborhoods attractive and cool.

Video: A Close Look at the Presentation of the Wetlands Ordinance to City Council on 9/20/07

Video: A Close Look at the Second Reading of the Wetlands Ordinance at City Council on 10/4/07

City Council Enacts New Wetlands Ordinance, Including 10-Foot Buffers

Northampton Conservation Planner: Wetlands Protection Agreements Are Being Violated

"Innovative Non-Zoning Approaches to Encourage Smart Growth and Protect Public Health" - Video with Wayne Feiden and Bruce Young

12/11/08 Kohl Hearing: Conservation Commission Balks at Intense Disturbance Within 35 Feet of Wetland

Comparing the New Hazards Mitigation Plan to the Old One: Wetlands Protection Weakened

Hyla Report: Northampton Wetlands Buffers at Narrow End of Massachusetts Spectrum

Just Released: Planner's Guide to Wetland Buffers for Local Governments

Model Ordinance Provisions for Conservation Subdivision Design: Give Wetlands Their Space

Paved Surfaces, Salt and Water Bodies: A Bad Mix

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Easthampton Flooding Hazard: Snow-Clogged Storm Drains

Gazette: "Region's storms going to extremes, report finds"

Gazette editorial: "Protecting the environment"

Gazette: "Should developers police own projects?"

Northampton Circulates Revised Wetlands Ordinance Ahead of October 4 Vote

Two Articles on Wetlands in the Valley Advocate

Our Response to Suzanne Beck's Letter to the Gazette

Our Response to Jim Levey's Letter to the Gazette

How to Amend the Wetlands Ordinance to Make It Less Harmful to Wards 1-4

Breaking News: Council Approves New Wetlands Ordinance 7-2 on First Reading

Hyla Ecological Services Analyzes the Proposed Wetlands Ordinance

Millions of Dollars of Property Outside the Official Floodplain Vulnerable to Localized Flooding

Greenfield's Quarter-Million-Dollar Flooding Fix Includes Razing a 4-Family House

Where We Stand on Wetlands: A Review of the Issues

The proposed ordinance is not consistent with past practice, and favors substantial new encroachments on Northampton's wetlands

Is the Proposed Wetlands Ordinance Similar to Current Buffer Zone Policy? Judge for Yourself

The Wetlands Policy Lawsuit that City Officials Are Afraid Of

Flooding is already affecting Northampton's built-up areas during major storms. Weakening wetlands buffer zone requirements downtown will make this worse

EPA: Threats to Wetlands

EPA: Wetlands and Flood Protection

The Economic Value of Wetlands: Wetlands’ Role in Flood Protection in Western Washington

Northampton's Flood and Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan: Wetlands Buffers of 100 Feet Are an Effective Flood Mitigation Strategy and Should Be Consistently Enforced

Northampton Open Space Plan: "This loss of habitat and natural flood buffering areas is Northampton’s most serious environmental problem"

Flooding Incidents in the North Street Neighborhood: 2003-2007

Springfield Wetland Regulations: "A minimum of a fifty (50) foot undisturbed buffer"

Carlon Drive: Compensatory Wetland Not Working

Photos Show: Man-Made Lakes and Stormwater Retention Systems Are No Substitute for Natural Wetlands

EPA: "Mosquito proliferation in stormwater ponds is a concern"

Detention Pools, Children and Drowning
What You Can Do
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Links of Interest to Ward 3

Here are additional links of interest to residents of Ward 3. NSNA does not necessarily endorse the positions taken by these organizations.

Northampton Education Action Team Online

Friends of Northampton Trails and Greenways

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Ward 3 Neighborhood Association

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District Attorney's Office Finds Plassmann, Tacy Did Not Violate Open Meeting Law

Posted by NorthAssocAdmin at 8/4/2010 3:04 PM

Categories: Neighborhood News, Local Politics, Ordinances and Regulations, Announcements

This announcement appears today on the website of Ward 3 City Councilor Angela Plassmann:

A recent item in Northampton Media aired the concern that fellow councilor Gene Tacy and I had violated the Open Meeting Law in meeting with Police Chief Sienkiewicz to gather information. The District Attorney's office has investigated and found no violation. I value transparency and openness and am a firm believer in including the public in the legislative process. -Angela

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District Attorney's Office Finds Plassmann, Tacy Did Not Violate Open Meeting Law

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