NORTHAMPTON — The City Council is supporting an effort to make it easier for those who wish to build a two-family home in Northampton.
Councilors last week voted unanimously to refer a proposed zoning ordinance change to the Committee on Legislative Matters and the Planning Board. If approved, the ordinance would eliminate the requirement that those building duplexes in the city must first secure a site plan review from the Planning Board.
Explaining the proposed ordinance before the council at its April 16 meeting, Planning and Sustainability Director Carolyn Misch referenced zoning amendments passed in 2021 that eliminated single-family zones citywide.
“The primary consideration is to remove the site plan review criteria or Planning Board public hearing for two families, just as single family (homes) are exempted from having to come to the Planning Board, regardless of size and the use of two families,” Misch said. “Currently, the way the zoning ordinance is written, if you’re proposing a structure that has two units in it and it exceeds 2,000 square feet, you’re still coming into a Planning Board approval process, which creates impediments to people who want to build one additional unit.”
Already, two-family homes are allowed to be built in the areas generally in walking distance from downtown Florence and Northampton.
The ordinance, Misch explained, also raises the size threshold for a two-family home development to require a site plan review from 2,000 square feet to 2,500 square feet — a move that she said intends to remove barriers for homeowners, or smaller developers to build on their lots.
“Two thousand square feet is a fairly small size, small scale project to push people into a public hearing process that takes two to three months. It adds time and money, in terms of getting site engineers to develop a site plan for applicants,” Misch continued. “This is just about giving a little bit more wiggle room for those small-scale projects without that additional cost.”
During the council’s deliberations on the proposed amendment, At-Large City Councilor Meg Robbins said that while she wasn’t concerned with homeowners building extensions to their properties without undergoing the site plan review process, she was concerned that developers could build duplexes without Planning Board approval.
In response, Misch noted that the ordinance would only exempt two-family homes from site plan review based on the number of units they contain, stressing that all other requirements for site plan review, such as setbacks and open space requirements must be met for a developer to build by right. She added that height restrictions on new developments will also remain the same.
“The only reason why someone would come to the Planning Board if two families are exempt and they’re building, let’s say, a 3,000-square-foot structure with two 1,500-square-foot units,” Misch clarified. “If the applicant has a different way of designing a project that doesn’t specifically meet the two family design standards, that would trigger a Planning Board review.”
Before the council took a positive unanimous vote to refer the proposed ordinance to the Planning Board and Committee on Legislative Matters, Ward 6 City Councilor Chris Stratton noted that there is benefit to bringing developments before the public’s eye through a site plan review.
Stratton said he believes future discussions on the zoning amendment will constitute a balance between saving the Planning Board’s time and effort and ensuring the public’s voice is heard.
“Part of what’s happening here is that these duplex approvals are very, very proforma — it’s a technical permit and there’s not a lot of decision-making involved, yet it also does get what’s coming in the public eye,” Stratton said. “People come and they speak their concerns and then they’re told that their concerns are not really relevant under our current ordinances, but that does bring knowledge of what our ordinances are.”
