HADLEY — A section of Route 9 between the Amherst town line and the Lowe’s home improvement store — the most commercially developed area of the state highway — is likely to be considered for the town’s first smart growth overlay district under the state’s Chapter 40R law.
A refined draft proposal for the district, known as the Smart Growth Corridor Overlay Zoning District, was presented Tuesday to the Planning Board and members of the subcommittee reviewing the concept. Officials anticipate that residents will get to approve or reject the district at a special Town Meeting in October.
The exact contours of the district are still being discussed, but generally would run around 150 feet back from Route 9 and take in the entirety of the Stop & Shop shopping plaza, the Home Depot plaza and Lowe’s on the north side and Hampshire Mall and Mountain Farms Mall on the south side.
“We’d want to see the zone encompass all the business and industrial zoned land from basically the bike path crossing to the Amherst town line,” said Planning Board Clerk William Dwyer.
By creating a sufficiently large district, developers would have the opportunity to pursue mixed-use projects and affordable housing, both of which are generally not allowed under current zoning.
“What we’re trying to accomplish here is to provide alternate uses in the business district that can help us in different ways, but within the business district and not expanding it,” Dwyer said.
Select Board member Randy Izer, who has been on the review committee, said the district should go to the Amherst town line, rather than stopping short and not including the Hadley section of the apartment buildings on Greenleaves Drive.
Izer said officials should be less concerned about whether the land is too wet and possibly not developable. “The land will dictate whether anybody can build on it or not,” Izer said.
The ongoing Chapter 40R zoning study is being funded by a grant from the state’s Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, with much of the work being done by consultants from the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission.
Ken Comia, PVPC’s director of land use and environment, said revisions to the proposal have been continuing this summer, including giving the district a new name and spelling out that the Planning Board would be given the authority to establish specific design guidelines for developments within the district.
Comia said these guidelines could be modeled after a similar smart growth district in Woburn that also features malls and shopping centers.
According to state requirements, 20% of the housing constructed would have to be affordable, providing homes for people making up to 80% of the area’s median income.
Hadley would immediately get a financial boost from the state, as communities that adopt such districts get an upfront payment of between $10,000 and $600,000, depending on how many projected units could be built, and an additional $3,000 payment for each unit that is brought online.
Another smart growth district that has been contemplated in the study, running from where the Norwottuck Rail Trail passes below Route 9 and extending west to the Coolidge Bridge, is on hold for now.
As the Planning Board continues to discuss the idea with the 40R Committee, Town Administrator Nate Malloy has written a memo to planners expressing his support for moving the smart growth district forward, and giving residents a chance to vote on it.
“This is a financial resilience strategy and an adaptive reuse strategy by allowing new mixed-use development that will provide housing choice, smaller spaces for commercial and retail uses, and generate additional tax revenue,” Malloy wrote.
His memo suggests providing flexibility on parking requirements. It also notes that the income limit for a four-person household, at 80% area median income, is $104,800.
The Planning Board will continue discussions on Sept. 1, a meeting where no public hearings can be held due to coinciding with the state primary.
