NORTHAMPTON — During a busy Thursday meeting, the City Council approved 14 changes to zoning ordinances to introduce a “form-based code” in both downtown Northampton and Florence Center, and approved resolutions that support gender-neutral state documents and passage of the so-called millionaire’s tax.
The zoning amendments that city planning officials worked on for four years passed their first reading by the council on March 17 and earned a final endorsement last week. They allow for more multifamily housing on side streets and on the ground floor of some commercial buildings; set standards for signage, setbacks and frontage; and condense requirements set by multiple city entities into one code.
“The elements within this code are trying to more tightly weave land use and transportation networks by creating housing opportunities that are walkable for folks in and around the downtown,” Carolyn Misch, the city’s assistant director of planning and sustainability, told the council.
“It encourages more dense mixed-use projects,” Misch said. “The idea is to make uses more flexible in these commercial districts” and create more high-quality built environments.
The council also passed a resolution in favor of state House bill 3126 and Senate bill 2282, which would require all state forms and documents on which someone must indicate their gender to provide the option of the neutral designation “X.”
One-quarter of queer American youth “identify as nonbinary and peer-reviewed research has found that young people whose gender is not recognized by others are more likely to have lower self-esteem, struggle with depression, and consider and attempt suicide,” the resolution reads.
The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles allows for gender-neutral designations on driver’s licenses and state IDs, while the U.S. State Department allows for “X” designations on passports.
A resolution that received its first vote of approval from the council pushes for an amendment to the Massachusetts Constitution, called the Fair Share Amendment or the millionaire’s tax, which would add a 4% tax on annual income over $1 million and dedicate the money to education, transportation and infrastructure repairs.
“Wealthy Massachusetts residents saw their investments grow during the pandemic while working families struggled,” the resolution reads, “and Massachusetts’ wealthiest residents should pay their fair share to support our communities and grow our economy.”
Two separate council votes are necessary to pass a resolution.
Also on Thursday, the council advanced a request for special state legislation to change the system of voting in city elections.
The City Council’s committees on City Services and Legislative Matters, as well as the Board of Registrars, will review the plan to implement ranked-choice voting before a final vote by the council on May 19 that would send the request to the state.
The Ranked Choice Voting Committee proposed language that would amend the city charter to eliminate the current system of voting for one candidate for each seat in a local election, dubbed “first past the post,” and replace it with ranked-choice voting. The change allows voters to rank multiple candidates that they would support for each seat, with the winner determined through a series of elimination rounds.
“It was a small but hardworking group. We got along very well. We put in a lot of work,” Robert Boulrice, the committee chair, said at the start of his presentation to the council.
“There were times when I thought that perhaps we needed hip waders to make our way through the weeds,” Boulrice said, a reference to the deep complexity of the committee’s work, which included determining standards for tabulating votes under a variety of theoretical circumstances and making their complicated recommendation easy to understand.
The plan is very similar to ranked-choice voting in Amherst, which has been approved on the town level but still requires the blessing of the state Legislature and election regulators, Boulrice said.
He reiterated that the committee has proposed a ballot referendum to let voters decide on the charter change, possibly as early as September if the remaining approvals happen quickly, even though the referendum is not required.
City Clerk Pamela Powers was not a member of the ranked-choice voting committee, Boulrice said, but her contributions were invaluable and committee members are more comfortable with their recommendation knowing that Powers supports it.
Ranked-choice voting would eliminate the need for the city to hold preliminary elections.
The deadline to apply for membership on a new select committee that will be tasked with studying the reasons more people do not serve on city boards and commissions is April 29, and an application is available on the city’s website.
In February, the City Council unanimously passed a resolution to establish the new seven-member select committee, which has seats for two elected officials, three people who are currently serving on boards and commissions, and two people who have never served or are not serving now.
“City leadership recognizes that many residents of Northampton experience structural barriers to participation in civic life, such as lack of financial resources, adequate transportation, adequate technology and internet, and lack of child care,” the resolution reads. “Service on boards and commissions is an opportunity for residents to make a meaningful contribution to the City of Northampton, performing critical advisory and quasi-judicial roles.”
There are 23 boards and commissions with a total of 188 seats, according to the resolution, and a review of the city website on Monday showed 31 vacancies on 16 boards and commissions, including the Planning Board, Arts Council, Disability Commission and Council on Aging. The select committee’s deadline for making recommendations to the City Council is Oct. 20.
The application can be found online at bit.ly/3xBU3k8. Applications can also be submitted by mail or in person at City Council Office, Room 16, 212 Main St., Northampton, MA 01060.