NORTHAMPTON — The Florence Civic & Business Association will be hosting a focus group put on by the Northampton Planning and Sustainability Department that will examine the future of zoning in Florence’s commercial district.
The forum will take place Tuesday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Florence Civic Center on 90 Park St.
Wayne Feiden, Northampton’s director of planning and sustainability, said the review is happening because the last time detailed zoning changes were done in Florence was 15 years ago.
“Fifteen years is a long time,” he said.
He said that the goal of examining the zoning is to see if what is in place is what people want now. A similar process is also being done currently in re-examining downtown Northampton’s zoning, and both efforts are utilizing the services of the Dodson & Flinker planning and landscape architecture firm, which is based in Florence.
Tuesday’s forum will primarily be focused on getting the input from business and property owners downtown, although it will be open to the public. A forum designed for the public at-large will be held in October, and Feiden said that other forums will be held after this as well.
Feiden said that if the input is that people like the zoning exactly as it is, there will be no changes.
“If everyone holds hands and says it’s perfect the way it is, that’s fine with us,” Feiden said, although he also said that he doubts that will be the case.
Bera Dunau can be reached at bdunau@gazettenet.com.