Northampton Design Forum Clip - 7/27/09

This video is from the Northampton Design Forum meeting held on July 27, 2009. It is just under ten minutes long and features Joel Russell, David Narkewicz and myself discussing the Village Hill Northampton project. The Sustainable Northampton Plan, Vision 20/20, Best Practices and every other document the City of Northampton has produced to tout it's progressive thinking are, in my opinion, all talk and no action. The city of Northampton has gone horribly askew. What to do, what to do?

Endorsements

November 3, 2009

nomp-haho endorses the following candidates:

Mayor – Michael R. Bardsley
City Clerk – Wendy A. Mazza
Councilor At Large – Jesse M. Adams
Councilor At Large – Kathleen E. Silva
Councilor Ward One – Andrew J. Vidal-McNair
Councilor Ward Two (Write In) – Mary Ford
Councilor Ward Three – Angela D. Plassman
Councilor Ward Four (Write In) – Daryl LaFleur
Councilor Ward Five – David A. Murphy
Councilor Ward Six – Marianne L. LaBarge
Councilor Ward Seven – Gene A. Tacy
School Committee At Large – Blue Marie Duval
School Committee At Large – Michael B. Flynn

I Can’t Take It Any More

If anyone out there knows Clare Higgins or Pat Goggins would you please tell them to come take their Higgins for Mayor sign off of the enterance to the Village Hill Northampton South Campus. It is blocking the view of the stumps!
Thank You

I Hope To Meet With Senator Stan Rosenberg

Senator Rosenberg,

In case you missed it...
13.6 acres of the most spectacular piece of land in the City of 
Northampton was sold to Kollmorgen.
 The South Campus of Village Hill Northampton will now be an 
industrial park. 
Public access to a remarkable view shed has been lost. I wish I had had $1,650,000. 
I would have bought it and built a planned mixed-use village.

I suppose somewhere, someone is happy about the way this played out.

I'm not. 


Benjamin Spencer
Northampton, MA


Area Property Deed Transfers
 - The Gazette - 9/4/09

Massachusetts Hospital Hill Development LLC to Kollmorgen Corp, 
Prince St., Northampton, $1,650,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Benjamin,

Thanks for your email. As you may know there was a very long planning and public participation period through which the City and its residents got the opportunity to create a vision of the reuse of the very large property that was made available based on the closing of the Northampton State Hospital many years ago. The vision created and agreed to by the City and its residents included preservation of some of the land, continuing the use of some of the land for passive and active recreation and finally, the development of buildings for both housing and businesses. As far as I know they are following the plan that was painstakingly developed through the process. There were and are of course, differing opinions on what should be allowed where. That said, if we waited for unanimous agreement on every detail nothing would have been done with this important property that represents the last major area of the City that can be developed into a mixed use "neighborhood". I hope you are aware of the number of projects that have advanced in recent years preserving other important sites and vistas in the City as part of other work by the City and its residents. I hope you take some comfort in the fact that preservation work continues to be a significant priority in the City and at the state level as most projects blend both state and local funds.

Thanks again for taking the time to contact me to let me know of your concerns.

Stan Rosenberg

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Hello Mr. Rosenberg,

I appreciate your response. I would be happy to discuss the matter with you further. I don't believe that successes elsewhere in the city can make up for the failure to stay true to the goals and visions that are given repeatedly in the documents pertaining to Village Hill Northampton.
The Village Hill master plan originally called for village-scale mixed-use development on the South Campus. On May 22, 2008, The Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC), chaired by Mayor Higgins, approved a significant change to this plan to accommodate a manufacturing plant proposed by Kollmorgen. This change was made during a meeting attended by three citizens and there was no opportunity for public comment.

In every planning document relevant to this project, we see the intention to create a mixed-use village on the South Campus. The South Campus was to support the residences on the North Campus with a diverse assortment of businesses, including technology, light industry, the arts, education, and service. The plans called for a mixed-use village with a walking-friendly, bustling atmosphere that would draw visitors from across the region. Now we have an industrial park. The city's comprehensive plan, known as "Sustainable Northampton," seeks to advance environmental, social and economic needs such that future generations will not be compromised. The plan notes that "a great advancement in one of these three areas to the detriment of one or two of the others will not be sustainable overall.” The current site plan for the Kollmorgen facility is purely economic at the expense of social and environmental concerns.
Sustainable Northampton commits the city to becoming a model community for sustainable policies and practices.

Instead we have become a bad example.

We can do better.
We need to take a step back and fix this.
This is important.

Benjamin Spencer

Northampton, MA

Mayoral Candidates Debate - Chamber of Commerce

This was an excellent debate
http://vimeo.com/7184460

10/20/09 Green Debate – Northampton High School – 7:30 Question RE: Village Hill Northampton

In every planning document for Village Hill Northampton, we see the intention to create a mixed-use village on the South Campus. The South Campus was to support the residences on the North Campus with a diverse assortment of businesses, including technology, light industry, the arts, education, and service. The plans called for a mixed-use village with a walking-friendly, bustling atmosphere that would draw visitors from across the region. Now we will have an industrial park. The city's comprehensive plan, known as "Sustainable Northampton," seeks to advance environmental, social and economic needs such that future generations will not be compromised. The plan notes "a great advancement in one of these three areas to the detriment of one or two of the others will not be sustainable overall.” The current site plan is purely economic at the expense of social and environmental concerns.
Sustainable Northampton commits the city to becoming a model community for sustainable policies and practices.
It seems to me we have become a bad example instead.
This is important. We can do better. How can we fix this?

Benjamin Spencer
Northampton, MA

Special Recession Sale!

In case you missed it...
13.6 acres of the most spectacular piece of land in the City of Northampton was sold to Kollmorgen.
The South Campus of Village Hill Northampton will now be an industrial park.
Public access to a remarkable viewshed has been lost.
I wish I had had $1,650,000.
I would have bought it and built a planned mixed-use village.
I suppose somewhere, someone is happy about the way this played out.
I'm not.

Area Property Deed Transfers
The Gazette - 9/4/09

Massachusetts Hospital Hill Development LLC to Kollmorgen Corp, Prince St., Northampton, $1,650,000

ward4northampton

ward4northampton

Ward 4 Northampton Neighborhood Association
Monday - October 26 – 6:00 to 9:00
Forbes Library - Community Room

Drop by for as long as you like. Arrive early for a slice of pizza and a beverage.
Meet your neighbors. Meet the City Council candidates. Make a friend. Connect.

This event is intended to start a neighborhood association for Ward Four.
The basic goal of ward4northampton is to connect citizens with their neighbors, community, city councilors and city government. We can discuss issues, interests, ideas and most importantly how to organize ward4northampton into a successful neighborhood association. Ward Four encompasses a multitude of neighborhoods. Lets hang out.

Please help spread the word. Please help organize this event. Please add your voice.

Benjamin Spencer
585-8066
benjaminspencer@comcast.net

Due to the busy election season, the candidates who are running for the City Council this November will be stopping by as their schedule permits.

Planning Boards that Work

Congratulations to the citizens of the City of Easthampton on the recent decision by their Planning Board to turn down the proposed Stop and Shop development on Northampton Street. Unlike the broken process and oddly amnesiac Planning Board that enabled the Kollmorgen project to be approved on the Village Hill South Campus, the Easthampton Planning Board members put long-term goals and community values ahead of easy answers and short sighted solutions. Stop and Shop would have built a 17,000 square foot facility with a 295 car parking lot on a beautiful piece of property in Easthampton. Kollmorgen is planning to build a 150,000 square foot facility and a 450 car parking lot on the top of “Hospital Hill” one of the most beautiful pieces of property in the Pioneer Valley. In both instances a small building at the edge of the parking lot was supposed to improve the outcome. This “solution” was keenly observed by Easthampton’s Planning Board as a false assertion. Perhaps we can look into creating a Planning Board exchange program. That way, private interests in Easthampton can get a few of their short sighted schemes passed with a fare thee well and the citizens of Northampton can learn what it feels like to have a Planning Board that will perform their duties diligently and in accordance with their mandate.