AMHERST — New housing for a range of ages and incomes, protected open space and farmland, and the preservation of some existing buildings, possibly for community use, should be encouraged through rezoning of the Hampshire College campus, according to residents who took part in a pair of listening sessions and design workshops last week.
Participants were equally clear about what they don’t want on the land after the college closes permanently at the end of the fall semester: data centers, big-box stores and large homes on oversized lots resembling a gated community.
Instead, they backed homes that can serve multiple generations and all income levels, along with development that adds to the town’s tax base while reflecting the college’s progressive ethos and sense of place.
On both Tuesday and Thursday, more than 100 people offered input at forums at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, on the West Bay Road edge of the campus.
Starting in the auditorium with an overview of what is happening, participants were able to break out into small groups of eight or nine people in other parts of the museum to discuss their hopes for the site with consultants from Horsley Witten Group, with some traveling to Amherst from Providence, Rhode Island, and Dodson & Flinker, of Florence.
With funding from MassDevelopment, the consultants have been evaluating the 632 acres in Amherst. The campus also has 168 acres in Hadley that aren’t part of the study. MassDevelopment offered to provide technical assistance and expertise on environmental aspects, land use and economic development. As it stands, the campus currently can only be used for educational purposes, and future educational uses would continue to be allowed based on state law.
Jeff Bagg, the town’s director of planning and economic development, said conducting a study of zoning and analyzing a menu of options is the right approach, even though the town is not acquiring the land and all decisions related to how it is sold will be made by the college’s trustees.
But the zoning can guide what happens should the college sell its property to a private developer.
Peter Flinker, principal at Dodson & Flinker, said the consultants will develop zoning options and present likely scenarios at a public forum in November. A report with recommendations will be ready for the Town Council in January.
How much land could be developed will depend on wetlands, Flinker said. A preliminary look at the areas with the fewest conservation concerns suggests 200 to 250 acres may be suitable for housing or commercial uses.
Attendees at Tuesday’s session included those who live at the nearby Applewood apartments and Upper Village; those who have been affiliated with the college as students, alumni, faculty and staff; and people who are simply interested in what happens there. The latter group included several councilors and others involved in town government, and representatives from nonprofits, like Kestrel Land Trust, headquartered near the college.
Among the most popular suggestions was to follow Northampton’s lead in how the former Northampton State Hospital was developed, with Jonathan Wright, himself a Hampshire College graduate, one of those who helped execute that vision in Northampton. Wright was not in attendance at Tuesday’s forum.
At one table, where a consultant guided the discussion with prompts in front of a map laid out on the table, Billy Spitzer, executive director of the Hitchcock Center for the Environment, said he is excited by the opportunities of having a microcosm of food, culture and education.
But Spitzer, whose organization has a 99-year lease on the college-owned land, is concerned that no one will agree on the vision and coming up with a consensus for something most beneficial may be a challenge. Instead, Spitzer said what develops may be the “least objectionable rather than the most visionary.”
Amherst resident Joanna Ballantine has connections to the college, including being a graduate and a college parent. She said the vision should extend to what the larger region needs, rather than just meeting the town’s needs.
“What are the assets that could benefit the region?” Ballantine said. “How do we integrate with opportunities of the broader region?”
She suggested there are assets that could benefit western Massachusetts, including multigenerational housing. But Ballantine also cautioned that many who live in Amherst will not have a voice in the future vision.
At various other tables, people suggested both a co-housing model and clusters of small homes, regenerative agriculture, and protecting buildings and recreation resources, like the Robert Crown Center’s swimming pool and the tennis and pickleball courts.
