Today’s Republican publishes a letter from John Sinton, a retired land-use planner. Here is an excerpt: Northampton board lax in OK of Hilton site planThe recent approval of a Hilton Garden Inn site plan by the Northampton Planning Board was heartbreaking. While the public made both rational and impassioned pleas to reject the hotel’s current site […]
Author: NorthAssocAdmin
Letters from Residents Describe Groundwater and Sewage Issues Around North Street
A flag on a map can indicate flood damage from a storm like Floyd, but the human impact of groundwater and sewage issues is best told by current and former residents. Irene Carlberg, Noreen Beebe and Donna Cavanagh have kindly provided us with their testimony, borne of years of experience of living in the North […]
Northampton’s Flood and Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan: Floyd Flood Damage Reported Behind View Avenue; Avoid Building on Filled Wetlands
On September 2, 2004, the Northampton City Council approved a Flood and Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan (PDF). The Project Manager for developing this plan was Gloria McPherson, Conservation and Land Use Planner. Ms. McPherson now works for Kohl Construction. Here are key highlights from the plan with respect to NSNA’s objectives, followed by an expanded overview. […]
Breaking News: Conservation Commission Votes to Delay Vernal Pool Delineation on Kohl Property to Spring 2008
In a significant victory for NSNA, Northampton’s Conservation Commission voted tonight to delay until spring its review of vernal pool delineation on Kohl Construction’s proposed condo site behind North Street. In its original Wetlands Application (PDF) filed several weeks ago with the city, Kohl asserted there were no existing or potential vernal pools on the site:After […]
Fran Volkmann: Planning Board Needs to Consider Proposals in their Broader Context
Fran Volkmann is a former member of the Northampton City Council and the Planning Board. In Tuesday’s Gazette, she expresses concern about how the Planning Board handled the Hilton Garden Inn proposal. Many of the issues she mentions also arise with Kohl Construction’s condo proposal for North Street. The zoning ordinance lists a number of […]
Report on Kohl’s Property by Alec MacLeod, Environmental Scientist: Indications of Vernal Pool Habitat
We are pleased to share this report from Alec MacLeod of Orange, an environmental scientist with expertise in wetlands. NSNA engaged Mr. MacLeod to inspect the wetlands bordering Kohl Construction’s proposed condo project off North Street. With the permission of Mr. Kohl, Mr. MacLeod paid a site visit to the property on August 20. He was […]
Attleboro, MA: Evaluating and Protecting Vernal Pools; Stormwater Modeling
The Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions provides a convenient list of wetlands regulations from cities across the state. Here we excerpt and emphasize portions of Attleboro’s regulations, as adopted in 2004 (MS Word file). 4.7 VERNAL POOLSThe Ordinance recognizes Vernal Pools as a protected Wetland Resource Area. The area within 100 feet of the mean […]
Protecting Creeks in Berkeley, CA; Value of Buffer Zones
On April 17, 2006, the Creeks Task Force of Berkeley, CA approved recommendations (PDF) to balance development with wetlands protection. Here are selected passages that have relevance to the debate over Northampton’s wetlands ordinances. Wenger (1999) contains a review and synthesis of “over 140 articles and books…to establish a legally-defensible basis for determining riparian buffer […]
Lot Map of Area Targeted by Kohl Construction
Here for your convenience is a map of the lots that abut Kohl Construction’s proposed condo project behind North Street. Kohl’s primary landholdings are the two large lots in the red circle, 25C-012 and 25C-017. A larger version of this map can be downloaded as a PDF.The large lot in the upper portion of the […]
NSNA To Present 859 Petition Signatures to City Council Today
The North Street Neighborhood Association will present 859 petition signatures at today’s City Council meeting. This includes 613 signatures from residents of Northampton and 246 from non-residents. The petitions began circulating on July 21. The City Council meeting will take place at 7:15pm in City Hall, 210 Main Street, in the second floor hearing room. Concerned citizens are […]