AMHERST — Residents of an Amherst subdivision near the Belchertown line concerned about the deteriorating condition of roads in the development, and the possibility the town will stop doing winter road maintenance, are asking the Planning Board to reverse a decision to release several lots for development.
The board will meet Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Town Hall to decide whether it should overturn its May 1 decision related to the Amherst Hills development, when it released 13 lots from an approved covenant re-corded in the Hampshire County Registry of Deeds July 2, 2003.
James Masteralexis, a Linden Ridge Road resident, said the request is to rescind the decision as a way of making sure the development’s three roads — Linden Ridge, Concord Way and Hawthorn Road — are built to town specifications.
“I think if you knew the facts of the matter you would not have approved the release of lots for sale on May 1,” Masteralexis said.
Hawthorn, Linden Ridge and Concord are private ways that are missing the top coat of asphalt. Town officials have informed residents that without improvements to the roads this fall, the streets may no longer be plowed and treated during the winter.
In addition to Masteralexis, a number of other residents of Amherst Hills spoke in favor of immediately rescinding the decision, saying that they could face a situation of being snowed in during the winter months if the roads aren’t repaired.
The release, requested by developer Tofino Associates, came after the Planning Board was told that Greenfield Savings Bank would provide $288,995 to finish the road work for the Amherst Hills subdivision, with the exception of the last cul-de-sac. That was based on an estimate for the work developed by Town Engineer Jason Skeels in May 2017 to be built to town specifications.
Planning Director Christine Brestrup said there were punch lists of work that was supposed to be done to finish the roads. Brestrup said she would provide more details to the board Wednesday so it can make a decision on whether it should reverse the release.
The original project was approved by town planners in 1989, when the land was owned by Connecticut developer Jeffrey Flower. He never built any houses and lost the property to foreclosure during the early 1990s. Tofino Associates bought the land from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in a sealed-bid auction in 1996 for $425,000.
