AMHERST — Over the past 15 years, five mixed-use buildings, each rising to five stories, have been constructed in downtown Amherst, developments that have significantly affected the look and feel of the town’s commercial center.

After a 40-year or so span when the town center only saw one major new commercial development — the Tucker Taft Building at 48 North Pleasant that replaced a gas station next to the Central Fire Station — change through in-fill development has become a constant, with a sixth new mixed-use building in progress off South Pleasant Street.

With the Planning Department understanding that such projects are likely to continue, with several areas ripe for redevelopment, the town has hired Northampton consultants to complete new downtown design standards for sidewalks, crosswalks, sitting areas, bicycles lanes, parklets and trees, as well as creating building design standards — all of which could bring some consistency to the look and feel of downtown, while also getting buy-in from the public for an overarching vision.

During an in-person workshop this month, which followed ones held in September after a walk around downtown, four interactive stations were set up for people to discuss their views, supplementing continued collection of feedback from residents, property owners, visitors and others through online surveys.

“Our goal is to develop a vision for downtown that can serve as the basis for regulatory changes,” said Peter Flinker, president of Dodson & Flinker Landscape Architecture & Planning of Northampton, whose work is being funded through the town’s fiscal year 2025 capital improvement program, with $150,000 set aside in that budget.

The focus is on the public realm, the places people hang out while downtown, even if some of the areas are not publicly owned, Flinker said. “You have an opportunity to build on what private developers are already doing,” he said.

Town Senior Planner Nate Malloy said Dodson & Flinker is being assisted by a working group that has been meeting privately and providing input in anticipation of continued development downtown, using what he calls a “consensus-building model.”

While Malloy understands that some residents may be critical of the project as a “pro-density” vision of downtown, he said it is essential to have a wide swath of opinion as an aim is to preserve what people like and draws them to downtown. Even so, it can be challenging to separate what people like about a specific business from what they like about the town itself, he said.

“This is about how to keep the streetscape, and people walking up through the downtown, and what places can be enhanced,” Malloy said.

Although no new developments have been filed, there is potential for more projects that would join the five-story Boltwood Place, opened in 2012, and Kendrick Place, 1 East Pleasant and 11 East Pleasant, 26 Spring and the 45-55 South Pleasant building now under construction.

In some ways it’s about continuing the efforts to guide development through a planning process that was originally spurred by the 1960s-era construction of the 1 South Pleasant St. building occupied by the Bank of America. Built as an Amherst Savings Bank in the 1960s, the building has often been seen as a poster child for what residents don’t want development to look like.

“Amherst zoning has tried to respond to what’s on the ground,” Malloy said.

For building design guidelines, there may be information about how tall a building should be as well as whether there should be setback upper levels and articulation of the facades and specific window treatments, also understanding that people like brick and granite.

The streetscape design manual in 2001 sought to bring brick and concrete cross-hatching to all sidewalks and crosswalks, but the Department of Public Works found that some of these, especially using different materials, limited their life expectancy, and has turned instead to thermoplastic paint for crosswalks.

What is developed by Dodson & Flinker, including annotated drawings, dimensions and material recommendations, could become part of the zoning bylaw or a standalone document referenced by the zoning bylaw, though Malloy said it’s unlikely to be strictly form-based code, as Northampton has used in some parts of the city.

“It may be a hybrid of design standards and form-base code,” Malloy said. “The hope is that it will give developers a better sense of building mass, and it’s important that if we want 12-foot sidewalks, we get 12-foot sidewalks.”

The Design Review Board would possibly have revised design review principles to use in its evaluation of projects.

This could also streamline the permitting process, Malloy said, as both developers and members of the Planning Board and other permitting boards will have a better sense of what is being sought.

Strenghts, weaknesses

Christine Brestrup, who rrecently etired as the town Planning Department’s director, said Dodson & Flinker are good at ferreting out information from the public.

Already, Flinker said strengths have been identified, such as the Kendrick Park playground and the benches and seating throughout downtown, while weakness include the look of new buildings and more traffic congestion. Flinker said the idea is to hold onto strengths and avoid weaknesses.

There is potential for sub areas, too, such as main street, village street and side street requirements, that would be put into the regulations. Decisions will have to be made about offering flexibility versus predictability and cost versus quality.

“Generally things that look expensive, are expensive,” Flinker said.

Some of those who participated offered thoughts about what they would like to see.

Erica Zekos, who chairs the Design Review Board, said consistency of the streetscape and buildings will take a long time. “Inevitably there will be a lot of variety within the set of standards,” Zekos said.

District 4 Councilor Pam Rooney said she sees too many transitions in the thoroughfares, which causes problems for people making their way through downtown.

Planning Board chairman Doug Marshall said he would rather have more consistency than less, even if there’s a need to use lower-quality materials. But others said that Amherst should be a place that values the streetscape, especially if it means ensuring trees are in good shape.

Brestrup said that keeping street standards simple is important, as more materials create bumps and problems for those in wheelchairs.

Town Manager Paul Bockelman said that even if requirements are created, Amherst residents will want to preserve some of the distinct features, including the archway that passes on Main Street and the narrow alleyway between Antonio’s. He said residents and visitors like oddball things and “elements of surprise.”

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.