The Northampton Planning Department has released the final version of the Sustainable Northampton Plan. This version includes pictures. You may download it here (PDF, 1.75MB).While the pictures make the report look more handsome, we were disappointed that they don’t do more to clarify the text. The part of the Plan that would benefit most from […]
Ordinances and Regulations
Kohl Goes Before Conservation Commission on March 13 to Discuss Vernal Pool Assessment Protocol
All those concerned about the fate of the North Street woods and wetlands are encouraged to attend the following public hearing. Kohl Construction’s proposed 26-unit condo project will encroach within 35 feet of the wetlands. These wetlands, centered around Millyard Brook, are suspected to contain one or more vernal pools. The Conservation Commission plans to evaluate […]
Model Ordinance Provisions for Conservation Subdivision Design: Give Wetlands Their Space
Randall Arendt presents Model Ordinance Provisions for Conservation Subdivision Design in “Growing Greener: Conservation Subdivision Design”, an article published in Planning Commissioners Journal, Winter 1999. This model ordinance underscores just how far Northampton’s new Wetlands Ordinance, which encourages development to within 10 feet of wetlands in the 15% of the city that is most built-up, […]
Planning Board to Hold “Sustainable Northampton and Big Picture Meeting” on March 6
Northampton’s Planning Board will hold a meeting/working session to discuss how to implement the Sustainable Northampton Plan. The meeting will take place on March 6, 6-8pm in the City Hall Hearing Room, 210 Main Street, 2nd Floor (enter via the rear door). The agenda includes: Review of Sustainable Northampton Implementation Process Review of Sustainable Northampton […]
Northampton Planning Board to Meet on Implementing Sustainable Northampton Plan
Northampton’s Planning Board will meet on Thursday, February 7 and Thursday, March 6 to discuss and plan for the implementation of the Sustainable Northampton Comprehensive Plan. These meetings begin at 6pm and may last for two hours each. We urge concerned citizens to attend at City Hall, 210 Main Street, 2nd Floor, Room 10 (enter via the rear […]
MA Secy of Energy and Environmental Affairs: Urban Parks Deserve Protection as do Habitat Reserves and Working Landscapes
In a January 16 guest column for South Coast Today, Ian Bowles, secretary of energy and environmental affairs for Massachusetts, argues that Smart Growth needs to provide for urban parks as well as habitat reserves and working landscapes (agricultural and forest lands). It’s not sufficient to presume that compact growth and the preservation of open […]
Massachusetts Top Court: Towns May Block Development That’s Out of Character with Neighbors
The state’s highest court affirmed that towns have the right to prevent developers from building homes that are out of character with their neighbors. In Norwell, a developer had been trying for years to get approval to tear down a 675 square-foot house and replace it with a 1,920 square-foot house. Yesterday’s Boston Globe reports: The court upheld the Town of […]
Greening Smart Growth: The Sustainable Sites Initiative
The Sustainable Northampton Plan (PDF), recently approved by the Planning Board, includes these goals (p.23): Conserve wetlands with programs to ensure no net loss of wetlands…Preserve existing forests, floodplains, wetlands, and agricultural soils of high ecological value…Recognize that the protection of environmental resources will improve the quality of life and the value of property in […]
Our Column in Today’s Gazette: The Hidden Risks of ‘Smart Growth’
Today’s Daily Hampshire Gazette features a guest column written by Dennis Helmus and Adam Cohen, members of NSNA. The column, reprinted below, touches on a number of points we have raised in recent weeks. We have added links so topics can be explored in greater detail. The hidden risks of ‘smart growth’By Dennis Helmus and Adam CohenSmart […]
Seeing Like a State: Planning Gone Awry in the 20th Century
When any master plan is being fashioned, some humility is in order. The past century offers numerous examples of grand visions that made things worse. Let’s visit with James C. Scott’s Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed (Yale Agrarian Studies, 1998). From the jacket copy: [Scott] argues […]