We encourage citizens to attend this meeting on the implementation of the Sustainable Northampton Plan:
Zoning Revisions Committee Meeting
May 6 Agenda
1st Floor Memorial Hall (old COA space)
(enter at side door facing Unitarian Society bldg)7:00 PM
1. Public comment
2. Discussion with Chris Mason, Northampton energy officer, about green community initiatives
3. Discuss our goals and priorities:
– How and when we want to involve the community
– How the goals of the Sustainability Plan can be translated into zoning in
a more general sense
– How the zoning change list in the Sustainability Plan relates to both the
Sustainability Plan
and the priorities for zoning revision overall.
4. Update…on the web site
5. Discuss the scope of meeting minutes 6. Review the prioritized list of zoning changes from the Sustainability Plan
See also:
Video: Zoning Revisions Committee Meeting of 4/1/09; Wayne Feiden Gives Zoning Tutorial
Download Envisioning Sustainable Northampton – Final Notre Dame Studio Presentation Book
Knoxville Infill Housing Design Guidelines: Lessons from Experience
As the Zoning Revisions Committee gears up to implement the vision of the Sustainable Northampton Plan, there are useful lessons to be drawn from other cities that have traveled the infill path.
Portland Infill Design Strategies: Best Practices for Context-Sensitive Infill Design
Toronto Urban Design Guidelines: Infill Townhouses
“Sprawl and Congestion—is Light Rail and Transit-Oriented Development
the Answer?”
Wall Street Journal: “How Group Decisions End Up Wrong-Footed”
With respect to local urban planning, developments that have been
plagued with problems need to be analyzed so the Planning Board and
Conservation Commission can make more informed decisions going forward.
Good candidates for study include Meadowbrook Apartments, homes on Winslow, Nutting and Elm Streets, and the stormwater management systems at Northampton High School, Carlon Drive, and Bridge Street School. Violations of existing wetlands protection agreements are rampant, according to Land Use and Conservation Planner Bruce Young. Before signing off on more aggressive developments and complex convenants, it’s time for city boards to step back and understand what’s causing these unsatisfactory situations.
Planners’ Assumptions about Future Household Size and Car Usage May Prove Wrong
Seeing Like a State: Planning Gone Awry in the 20th Century
…[Jane] Jacobs quotes with approval Stanley Tankel… “We will have to admit
that it is beyond the scope of anyone’s imagination to create a
community. We must learn to cherish the communities we have, they are
hard to come by.”