The Conservation Commission and Planning Board have scheduled hearings for December 11 on Kohl Construction’s application for a Special Permit and Site Plan Review for its North Street woods condo project. Concerned citizens are urged to attend. Northampton Conservation Commission AgendaDate: Thursday December 11, 2008 Time: 5:30 PM Place: City Hall Hearing Room (use back […]
Infill
Notre Dame Northampton Charrette Critical of Hospital Hill Plans, Fleshes Out Alternative
The Notre Dame Design Studio circulated the following announcement yesterday. They will present their final proposals from the Northampton Charrette to the public on Saturday, December 13th at 2:30pm at Northampton High School. The public is encouraged to attend. Hi everyone, In response to feedback from a number a people requesting more information about our […]
Video: Northampton State Hospital Citizens Advisory Committee Meeting, 11/17/08
Here is a complete Google video of the November 17 meeting of the Northampton State Hospital Citizens Advisory Committee. The video is 3 hours long, and was recorded by Lachlan Ziegler. The meeting took place in Florence in the John F. Kennedy Middle School Community Room. Roughly the first hour of the meeting presented the […]
Kohl Construction Applies for Special Permit and Site Plan Review
Kohl Construction, doing business as Tofino Associates and Northern Avenue Homes, filed an application for Special Permit and Site Plan Review with the Planning Board on November 13. You may download the application (PDF, 15.3MB) and the full-scale architectural plans (PDF, 9.2MB) associated with it. The Conservation Commission and the Planning Board intend to hear […]
Video: November 13 Planning Board Meeting: Hazards Mitigation Plan; Zoning Revisions Committee; Hotel Northampton Complaint; Hospital Hill Diverging from Vision of Planned Village; Comments on Notre Dame Charrette Website
Here is a complete Google video of the Northampton Planning Board meeting of November 13, 2008. The video is 2 hours and 49 minutes long. Here are selected highlights of the meeting: 0:00:00-0:58:49Discussion of the Proposed Local Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan (PDF)0:00:00-0:15:50… Summary of planning process and highlights of plan 0:15:04-0:15:28… Planning Board member George Kohout […]
Notre Dame Urban Design Studio Seeks Comments
A message from Joel Russell, chair of the Northampton Design Forum: The Notre Dame urban design studio has been hard at work since the Design Northampton Week charrette in September. The students have been refining ideas, creating new plans, and illustrating them with more perspective views. Some of this work was presented at their mid-term […]
Smart Growth vs. “Smart Growth”
“We would like to concentrate development closer in, we like the idea of walkability, bikeability, neighborhood center… The thing that happens to us, however, is that we buy that and then somebody builds some horrible thing…and then they say to you, “This is infill, you know. It’s good, it’s infill.” …You know if you walk […]
Update from Notre Dame; Critique of Northampton Sector Diagram
[11/13/08 update – Notre Dame Professor Philip Bess sent us this comment and authorized us to share it with you: We share your commitment to green space in Northampton, both usable and preserved; and are cognizant of the low-lying downtown areas prone to flooding. I just want to reassure you here that even if our […]
Ordinance to Simplify Zero Lot Line Developments to Come Before City Council on 11/6/08
[Update: The City Council agenda says this proposal is getting its first reading on November 6, but it’s actually at an earlier stage of the process. The proposal will likely be referred out to various committee meetings and hearings before coming back to the Council.] This November 6, Northampton’s City Council will get its first look at amending Ordinance […]
New Hazards Mitigation Plan Reflects Weakened Protection for Wetlands
Northampton’s Office of Planning and Development has made the new Proposed Local Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan (PDF) available for public review. The Planning Board will hold a public hearing on this plan on November 13, 7pm, in City Council Chambers, 212 Main Street. We compared the new Plan to the existing one, which the City Council signed […]