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:
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.
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.
Below is a complete blip.tv video of the 3/7/11 public forum held by Northampton's Solid Waste Reduction and Management Task Force. The public was invited to express opinions about how the city will manage its waste once the municipal landfill closes in 2012. The Task Force will hold a second and similar forum on March 11 in the Senior Center from 2-4pm.
The audience was composed largely of people who currently bring their own waste to a city transfer station (as opposed to having it picked up by subscription service). Most of them wanted to see the city continue to operate at least one transfer station. Several mentioned the social aspect of seeing friends and exchanging news. This recording was made by Adam Cohen and is 1 hour 47 minutes long. You may also view a 15-minute blip.tv video from the brief meeting the Task Force held just before the public forum.
If video playback is balky (because blip.tv is busy), NCTV has a similar video here.
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