As we wrote yesterday, Kohl Construction proposes to apply herbicide in an effort to eradicate two invasive species on its property: Japanese knotweed and multiflora rose. Here is a news release from Ohio State University Extension with cautions about the use of glyphosate, found in a number of popular herbicides. 06/17/2008 PDF / Photos / […]
Continue reading Herbicide Caution: Glyphosate Use May Damage Woody Plants
In an effort to earn ‘extraordinary mitigation’ points and justify close encroachment to the wetlands off North Street, Kohl Construction proposes to apply herbicide in an effort to eradicate two invasive species on its property: Japanese knotweed and multiflora rose. Northampton Land Use and Conservation Planner Bruce Young says that if Kohl did this to […]
Continue reading Japanese Knotweed and Multiflora Rose: Is Herbicide the Answer?
Here are two Vimeo videos (part 1, 86 minutes; part 2, 112 minutes) of portions of the Planning Board meeting of January 22. These videos were recorded by Lachlan Ziegler. Part 1[We join the Planning Board just a minute or so into the start of their meeting] 0:00:00-0:59:59… Informal discussion with Mass Development on Planned […]
Continue reading Video: Planning Board Meeting of January 22; Hospital Hill; Kohl Condo Proposal
Here is a Google video of a large portion of the Conservation Commission meeting of January 22. This video is 3 hours and 7 minutes long, and was recorded by Adam Cohen. See portions of a Gazette article on this hearing, pictures of the Kohl condo proposal as reviewed, the conservation staff report and a […]
This article from the Winter 2009 edition of Planning Commissioners Journal underscores the benefits of working with nature to manage stormwater: Managing Stormwater Runoff: A Green Infrastructure Approachby Lynn Richards, Acting Director for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Development, Community, and Environment Division …Green infrastructure strategies reduce and manage stormwater through infiltration (water soaking into […]
Daryl LaFleur published the following interview with James Howard Kunstler on Northampton Redoubt this weekend. Kunstler is the author of The Geography of Nowhere, written “Because I believe a lot of people share my feelings about the tragic landscape of highway strips, parking lots, housing tracts, mega-malls, junked cities, and ravaged countryside that makes up […]
Continue reading Northampton Redoubt: “Mr. Kunstler, is all infill good?”
Today’s Gazette reports on the Conservation Commission and Planning Board hearings yesterday for Kohl Construction’s proposed condo project off North Street (see schematic diagrams and narrative). We’ll have videos of both these hearings online within a few days. No decisions were made. Hearings are scheduled to continue on February 26 (Conservation Commission) and March 26 […]
Here is our ad as it appears on page 3 of the A section in today’s Daily Hampshire Gazette (download a high-resolution PDF). This ad summarizes many of our key objections to the Kohl condo proposal for North Street. The text is reproduced below the ad image with links added so you can explore the […]
Continue reading Our Ad in Today’s Gazette: A Review of Our Objections to the Kohl Condo Proposal
Stormwater modeling calculations, such as those found in the Kohl condo proposal for North Street, typically leave out a number of common scenarios. One of the most challenging of these is managing the flow from rain that falls on snow. Frozen ground doesn’t absorb water well. Snow can plug up pipes and grates and interfere […]
Continue reading New England Climate Change: More Rain on Snow Will Challenge Stormwater Management
Kohl Construction, doing business as Tofino Associates/Northern Avenue Homes, submitted a revised condo proposal to the Conservation Commission on Friday. Download PDFs of the revised proposal (1.96MB) and associated narrative (1.31MB). This proposal will come before the Conservation Commission and the Planning Board on January 22 (see below). Concerned citizens are urged to attend. Here […]