AMHERST — Business leaders intend to bring zoning changes to Town Meeting this fall that would encourage more mixed-use developments downtown, and potentially enhance the tax base at a time when Amherst is considering municipal building projects expected to cost about $100 million.
The petitions, whose signatures still need to be certified, aim to change three areas of limited business zoning: (BL) to the same general business (BG) that exists throughout the rest of the commercial center.
The effort is being led by Jerry Guidera, a member of the board of directors of the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce, with support from the Amherst Business Improvement District and the chamber.
Guidera said his pitch to Town Meeting will be that limited business zoning is not appropriate downtown, and that the entire commercial district in town center should have more flexible zoning.
“We think the BL doesn’t work downtown,” Guidera said. “It’s meant to be a buffer between business and residential areas, but the reality is it doesn’t do that.”
The three areas zoned limited business in downtown, which restricts mixed-use developments, are on the north side of Triangle Street, where strip-mall style development has occurred; on the west side of Kendrick Park along North Pleasant Street, where numerous former homes have been converted into retail shops; and on the east side of South Prospect Street near the Amherst Cinema.
This zoning provides no option for housing, meaning developers cannot pursue mixed-use projects such as Kendrick Place and Boltwood Place and the proposed One East Pleasant.
“Our main argument in favor of this rezoning is that we believe this will lead to greater investment in repurposing some of our older downtown properties and growing our commercial tax base,” Guidera said.
Guidera points to the office building that developers Barry Roberts and Curt Shumway are planning at the corner of North Pleasant and Hallock streets, which faces restrictions on lot coverage and height.
The proposal also includes a 14-space parking lot even though the parcels are within the municipal parking district,which means that no additional parking is required.
Sarah la Cour, executive director of the Amherst Business Improvement District, said the rezoning of the limited business areas is logical and would benefit downtown.
“Having slightly more flexibility in the broader area is helpful,” la Cour said.
Limited business is not a productive zone and does not work to meet objectives of the town’s master plan which calls for denser development, la Cour said.
“This is something we’ve talked about amongst ourselves for some time,” la Cour said.
Timothy O’Brien, executive director of the Amherst chamber, said limited business zoning seems to have constrained development, rather than guided it, and that there is pent up demand for property renovations and so-called “in-fill” projects on these properties.
The current zoning, O’Brien said, has also inhibited the “live, work and play” lifestyle that Amherst strives to have.
Meanwhile, Guidera said he will sell the rezoning to Town Meeting as the beginning of a discussion about Amherst’s over-reliance on residential property taxes. More than 90 percent of taxes in Amherst are paid by residential property owners.
Mixed-use projects are one way to do this, observing that Kendrick Place is paying $300,000 in taxes annually, which surpasses the amount of property taxes collected on the 24 parcels in the limited business that would be rezoned, Guidera said.
He argues the town should strive to get residential taxes reduced to 70 percent of the total collected.
This is also critical to discussion of the $100 million in building projects the town is considering. Those are rebuilding Wildwood School, for which a Proposition 2½ debt-exclusion override is on the Nov. 8 ballot; Jones Library expansion and renovation; and a new Department of Public Works headquarters and South Amherst fire station.
“This is a much larger play toward financial stability for the community,” Guidera said.
Guidera said having three separate articles gives Town Meeting members the opportunity to consider the different concerns about each area.
While the Zoning Subcommittee of the Planning Board has also been contemplating changes to the limited business rules, simply changing the zoning to general business may be easier, Guidera said.
“This is our way of saying we’re not going to wait around for that,” Guidera said.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
