Why would some developers plan to demolish a small, partially renovated single family home in an already dense neighborhood and replace it with eight market rate condos? Because under current zoning laws, they can, “by right.”
A few years ago a previous edition of our City Council established new zoning rules with the promise of easing the housing shortage and promoting “infill.” Planners emphasized densifying neighborhoods closest to our two downtowns. The admirable goals of reducing sprawl and increasing affordable housing were stressed.
Anyone following the news has noted some results of this policy in recent years. Well over 100 units of housing have been built in Ward 3, including affordable housing and luxury townhouses.
Controversies have raged over the proposal to replace a historic church with luxury units and the demolition of individual, functional houses in Bay State knocked down and replaced by pairs of homes sold in the higher six figures.
There’s something else at work both here and nationally. Our commercial tax base is in decline. Cities look for ways to raise more revenue. Overrides and budget cuts are quite unpopular. On the other hand, new housing units generate more property taxes, especially where the housing market is hot.
One result is the impulse to squeeze as many units into a lot as possible. Neighborhoods selected as infill zones are mainly where that will happen. More affluent neighborhoods will be spared.
One of the developers at 107 Williams St. told a gathering of neighbors that the city encouraged him to build the maximum allowable units on the quarter acre lot he bought. His plans indicate that a mature Norway Spruce, some fruit trees, and an established perennial garden are in the way and will be destroyed.
Two fine infill projects nearby on Pleasant Street, The Lumberyard and Live155, required extensive infrastructure repair and expansion prior to construction. By contrast, a side street project like 107 Williams is surrounded by an already stressed and decaying infrastructure: a 19th century stormwater system, narrow, sometimes crumbling sidewalks, and a few nearby streets like moonscapes.
The additional car traffic will further aggravate the heavy “cut-through” traffic Williams Street is subject to as commuters try to avoid downtown congestion.
Concerned neighbors of mine see the need for more housing and are not against thoughtful infill. Adding accessory apartments or using approved house lots on side or back streets to build one-, two- or three-family units would dovetail with what is already here. But shoehorning as many units as possible into small spaces? That’s not infill, that’s overkill.
Is that what councilors foresaw when they voted for those changes? Isn’t it time to take a careful look at what is now allowed “by right?” Some say “Forget it, the horse is out of the barn.” I urge the City Council to have the good judgment to revisit the barn where their predecessors let out a horse that is damaging our neighborhoods and, left unchecked, will do so well into the future.
Mac Everett lives in Northampton.