Today’s Gazette features a brief mention of our campaign to preserve wetlands buffer zones (“Group campaigns for wetlands”) and a letter from Jim Levey of Northampton, “Proposed wetlands measure deserves everyone’s support”. Mr. Levey believes our positions are “not based on fact”… I support the proposed wetlands ordinance, a culmination of over two years’ work […]
Opinion
Press Release: Northampton, MA Citizens Campaign to Protect Their Urban Wetlands, Prevent Flooding; 16,978 Postcards Mailed to Voters
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEEmail in**@********oc.org for more informationNorthampton, MA Citizens Campaign to Protect Their Urban Wetlands, Prevent FloodingCitizens of Northampton, MA are campaigning to preserve the buffer zones around the city’s urban wetlands from development. Northampton has a proud tradition of environmental stewardship and sustainable growth, but on October 4, Northampton’s City Council plans to vote […]
How to Amend the Wetlands Ordinance to Make It Less Harmful to Wards 1-4
It is unfortunate and unnecessary that some people seem to believe it’s acceptable to degrade the quality of life and increase the flooding risk of in-town residents in order to preserve open space in the outlying areas. The environment and safety of all parts of Northampton deserve respect.NSNA has called attention for some time now to […]
Carlon Drive: Compensatory Wetland Not Working
Former City Councilor Mike Kirby kindly provides this article to us, a study of a “compensatory wetland” on Carlon Drive. We are concerned that the proposed wetlands ordinance places too much reliance on schemes like these, in exchange for letting developers encroach to within 10 feet of wetlands in our built-up areas. Carlon Driveby Mike […]
Alex Ghiselin, Letter to Gazette: “Don’t let development encroach on our wetlands”
Alex Ghiselin is a former City Councilor for Ward 5. The Gazette publishes his letter to the editor today: “Don’t let development encroach on our wetlands” To the editor: Northampton has a natural wetland system that protects us from flooding, nurtures biodiversity and filters our groundwater. Allowing development within 10 feet of this system in […]
NSNA Banner Ads Debut on GazetteNet.com
Visitors to the home page of the Daily Hampshire Gazette, GazetteNet.com, will see our new animated banner ad starting today:In this ad, we are calling particular attention to detention ponds as people may not appreciate how the need for them may surge under the proposed wetlands ordinance. The ordinance is specifically aimed at encouraging infill […]
Nonotuck Land Fund Raised Wetlands Buffer Issue in May
Some city officials have said that NSNA is late arriving on the scene. The new wetlands ordinance has been on the table for two years, they say, and we are disinclined to discuss it further. Many of our arguments are not new, however. They are articulated in Northampton’s Flood Mitigation Plan, approved by the City […]
An Open Letter from Carol Hutter, North Street Resident, to the Mayor
From: Carol Hutter…Sent: Monday, September 10, 2007…To: Mayor of NorthamptonSubject: northassoc.org..Keep it green!Hello! My name is Carol Hutter, and I currently reside at…North Street. I am just writing to let you know that I am concerned about the prospect of building in the wooded area near my apartment. I feel that it is really important […]
NSNA Debuts New Radio Campaign, Newspaper Ad Today
The North Street Neighborhood Association today launches a new series of radio ads on WHMP-AM and a print ad on page A7 of the Daily Hampshire Gazette. We reproduce the text of these ads below, adding links to make it easy to research the issues further and take action.Script of WHMP Radio Spot (revised 9/12/07, […]
The proposed ordinance is not consistent with past practice, and favors substantial new encroachments on Northampton’s wetlands
It has been argued that the proposed wetlands ordinance merely codifies current practice with respect to buffer zones, so residents should not be unduly concerned. Ward 3 City Councilor Marilyn Richards goes further and maintains that the proposed ordinance is actually more restrictive than the current guidelines, but that some residents haven’t grasped this. “Because […]