February 24, 2012
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Easthampton housing project opponents fight in new venue
By Rebecca Everett
EASTHAMPTON – Supporters and opponents of the proposed Parsons Village housing development were once again at odds as a second round of public hearings on the project started Tuesday.
The Valley Community Development Corp. is seeking a comprehensive permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals for the 38-unit affordable housing development, which was rejected by the Planning Board in September.
A state law, Chapter 40B, allows developers to bypass zoning bylaws and receive a comprehensive permit when building affordable housing projects in communities that have less than 10 percent affordable housing.
At the hearing, Valley CDC Executive Director Joanne Campbell and project designers presented their vision for the $10 million, six-building development, which includes 52 percent open space. To prove that the development is a good fit for the area, they also offered the results of a traffic impact study and a map they created to compare the density of the development to that of the surrounding neighborhood.
As at the Planning Board’s hearings, opponents argued that the development would be too dense, would not fit the character of the neighborhood and could negatively impact neighbors by increasing traffic and water runoff.
Kirsten Morra of 25 Federal St. said she and her neighbors were not thrilled to be back in the conference room at the Municipal Building fighting the developer all over again.
“We didn’t want to come back, but we’re all committed to this,” she said. “What we have to remember is that the members of the Zoning Board of Appeals haven’t heard anything that we’ve said over the past year, so we have to say it again.”
Erica Flood of 61 Parsons St. said the CDC has not made much of an effort to respond to neighbors’ concerns throughout the two-year process. “They repeatedly ignored residents’ plea to drastically reduce the density,” she said at the hearing. “Forty units to 38 units is not a reduction.”
Project designer Peter Wells, of the Berkshire Design Group, noted that while neighbors decry the project as being too dense, it is nearly half as dense as the current apartment complex abutting the parcel to the south, which has more than 16 units per acre.
Jackie Brousseau-Pereira of the Easthampton Housing Partnership said her organization supports the project because the city’s master plan says the city must create more affordable rental housing.
Morra said the master plan also mentions creating owner-occupied affordable housing, and neighbors would prefer that Parsons Village include at least some owner-occupied units.
“I feel that creating stakeholders, not only for the area, but for the city, is paramount,” she said. “We’re setting a precedent for the city.”
Amy Heflin of 10 Pepin Ave. said she is concerned about the accountability of the future owners of Parsons Village, who could be “absentee landlords.”
“Who will our neighbors be?” she asked. “We were told investors, rich investors, probably from out of the area.”
Heflin asked the board members to consider the 40B application to be “unfriendly” because more than 100 residents of the New City section of Easthampton signed a petition opposing it, and to remember that the Planning Board denied it for a reason.
“The most glaring thing is that this has been presented # and it was reviewed and rejected,” she said.
The next hearing will be March 8 at 6:30 p.m., followed by a site visit on March 10 at 9 a.m.
Board Chairwoman Margaret Solis said the public hearing will be open for no more than 180 days, and hearings will be held on the second Thursday of each month from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. until Aug. 16. After the hearing is closed, the board has 40 days to either deny the permit, approve it or approve it with conditions.
Under Chapter 40B, the board has limited authority to deny the permit. For example, the ZBA could deny it on grounds that it violated health or fire codes or state regulations, but not for violating zoning, Campbell said.
If the permit is denied or approved with conditions, the CDC can appeal it to a state board.
The City Council is also considering a motion from Council President Justin P. Cobb to withdraw the $200,000 in Community Preservation Act funds the council approved for the development in 2010. Cobb argued that because the developer is seeking a different type of permit, the project has changed enough to warrant another vote.
The City Council will hold a public hearing on withdrawing the funds at 6:15 p.m. March 7.
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