Zoning changes to mandate more affordable housing in Amherst
Amherst Town Hall GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
Published: 5/5/2021 8:01:35 PM
AMHERST As Amherst continues to miss its goal of developing around 50 affordable housing units annually, town planners are crafting zoning revisions that would mandate developers include homes in their projects for low- and moderate-income households.
In what members of the Planning Department describe as a significant amendment, all development of townhouses, apartments, mixed-use buildings and planned unit residential developments, or PURDs, with more than nine units, will be required to feature both market-rate and affordable housing.
“This is a really big change,” Senior Planner Nathaniel Malloy told the Town Council during a presentation this week.
Around Amherst: Bach Festival resounded downtown
By SCOTT MERZBACH
Live, in-person music returned to downtown Amherst for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began more than a year ago.
On Saturday and Sunday, Bach in Amherst featured outdoor pop-up performances of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach as part of the 2021 University of Massachusetts Bach Festival and Symposium.
Performances will be Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the Town Common, and
Ann Tweedy, marketing director for the Amherst Business Improvement District, said the performances follow from the Bach in the Subways held indoors in 2015 at Amherst Books and Black Sheep Deli.
Northampton gets grant to develop affordable housing parcels This old state hospital building, shown in May 2016, was scheduled to be transformed into 25 affordably priced, energy-efficient condominium homes in the Village Hill neighborhood in Northampton. GAZETTE FILE PHOTO/DAN LITTLE
This old state hospital building, shown in May 2016, was scheduled to be transformed into 25 affordably priced, energy-efficient condominium homes in the Village Hill neighborhood in Northampton. GAZETTE FILE PHOTO/DAN LITTLE
Published: 4/4/2021 8:42:31 PM
NORTHAMPTON The city has received a $250,000 state grant to support the development of affordable housing on the site of the former state hospital.
Mayor David Narkewicz said the state Housing Choice grant will be used to prepare two sites, one on Burts Pit Road and one on Laurel Street, for development.
Northampton receives $250,000 in grant money to set up affordable housing at former state hospital site masslive.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from masslive.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Gov. Baker awards 10 low-income housing vouchers for use by homeless at Amherst Supportive Studio apartments
Updated 12:38 PM;
AMHERST – Persistent affordable housing shortages in town have not been solved, but it is widely recognized as a problem and efforts have been underway to address it.
Gov. Charlie Baker on Wednesday announced that the state will provide ten housing subsidies/vouchers, for homeless individuals, to live at the 28-unit building being built along Route 9, at 132 Northampton Road, called Amherst Supportive Studio apartments.
Northampton-based Valley Community Development Corporation is leading the effort, which was approved in November by Amherst Zoning Board of Appeals.