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MLConservation Planning Board  210 Main St., Room 11 City Hall Northampton, MA 01060 May 21, 2017          Dear Planning Board Members:   I want to inform you that I will not be able to attend the meeting scheduled for Thursday, May 25th, 2017 due to a prior obligation.  I am requesting the Chair of the Board to read my letter at your meeting for the record.   I want to give you my perspective of the plans for Burts Bog: Conservation and Limited Development. As the City Councilor of Ward 6, our Director of Planning Wayne Feiden and I scheduled a meeting with all the abutters to notify them of this development happening. Transparency and communication is so valuable hearing what tax payers and home owners have to say. Wayne Feiden and I had scheduled our first meeting on January 24th, 2017. That meeting had to be cancelled due to bad weather and the schools closing. Over 300 flyers had been sent to all abutters about this meeting. I rescheduled another meeting and all flyers were sent out to the abutters again. This meeting was held on February 8th, 2017 at Ryan Road School. It was well attended. The Director of Planning Wayne Feiden did a slide presentation and did a great job presenting the City’s proposal and all the details on how the conservation land has been obtained by the City. The Developer’s original plans were for 82 lots. The City Plan was for conservation and limited development. 115 acres of new protected open space, the seller keeps 2 lots on Burts Pit and 2 lots on Stone Ridge, and 8 lots sold by the City on Burts Pit Road. Eventually there will be a multi-use trail that connects to the existing trail network. Three of the first homes will be affordable to families. When an abutter stressed his concerns of this plan being low income, Wayne Feiden explained the difference of affordable versus low income. Median income is $67,000. This is for all working families. Due to the stated concerns of some of the abutters the Planning Department made some changes. Because of these concerns, the Planning Department has added an additional 10 foot setback on homes showing 30 feet from the property boundaries and 40 feet from the paved road. This is over and above what any private home owner is required to have.  Another change is moving back the driveway and parking for the 2 middle lots by 20 feet and reconfiguring it so it has a smaller footprint.  I as a City Councilor and the City Council have been very supportive of efforts to mix housing in this City. It does not decrease the value of a neighborhood. I feel the placement of the new housing lots has been done thoughtfully. I am supporting this plan on preserving 115 acres of Conservation Land and the beauty of the precious wildlife that lives in that area. Limited development, mixed and affordable housing is the right direction that our City needs to go in. I received many responses thanking Wayne and I for having this meeting. We heard the concerns people had. Wayne Feiden went back to the drawing board, and that he did well. I have attached a poem that a resident who is an abutter sent to Wayne. It tells it all about this project. (This poem does not need to be read off. It is for your information) I am asking the Planning Board while looking at this plan to make the right decision and approve saving our Conservation Land, with a connecting trail. Support affordable housing where people can live in our City, mixed housing with different diversities. This is what our City is all about. Thank You, Marianne LaBarge City Councilor Marianne LaBarge Ward 6