AMHERST — It’s going to get easier in Amherst to get a permit to run a home business, construct buildings on college campuses and make minor alterations to existing buildings as a result of three votes at Town Meeting Thursday, Nov. 17.
The three Planning Board-initiated bylaw changes all received the necessary two-thirds majorities.
By a 106-44 count, Town Meeting adjusted the rules and permitting processes regarding accessory home businesses, from home offices to contractors.
Planning Board Chairman Stephen Schreiber said this will give Building Commissioner Robert Morra and the Zoning Board of Appeals clearer guidelines for when special permits are needed for home businesses, and when such businesses can be approved administratively with a waiver.
Gerry Weiss of Precinct 8 said he is confident that Morra is a stickler to ensuring there will be no undue impacts on residential neighbors from these businesses, and Jonathan O’Keeffe of Precinct 9 said the bylaw language is explicit that home businesses can only be approved if the effect on others is negligible.
But Mary Wentworth of Precinct 5 said zoning is designed to protect neighborhoods, adding that she is worried that eliminating public hearings will necessitate a complaint-driven process to address problems.
“This is going to rely on residences in neighborhoods to protect what they perceive the value of their homes, in some cases,” Wentworth said.
Morra said an appeal can be made to the Zoning Board for anyone unhappy with a decision he makes.
Carol Gray of Precinct 7 said eliminating pages of zoning bylaw that offer protections to neighborhoods is unwise.
“It’s a wholesale replacement of numerous pages,” Gray said.
The successful vote came only after three separate attempts at using the electronic tally devices. It marked the second night in a row that the devices malfunctioned.
By a 96-44 vote, Town Meeting agreed to make the site plan review process less complicated for smaller projects.
Projects with minor alterations to the exterior of a building or a site will no longer be required to go before the Planning Board, but instead can be handled by administrative review by Morra.
John Hornik of Precinct 7 supported the change because the Planning Board will be able to focus more on bigger issues and less on the minutiae of various smaller projects.
“We need to give our Planning Board time to plan. We need to trust that the building commissioner will not abuse his authority,” Hornik said.
The third zoning change, adopted by voice vote, allows new construction on the Amherst and Hampshire college campuses to no longer have to wait 60 days between the filing of construction plans and issuing a building permit.
The Planning Board can already grant waivers to this time period and often removes college projects from its agenda. Projects at the University of Massachusetts are exempt from local review.
