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Oak Street Email - Elizabeth Thompson 8.20.23Keith Benoit <kbenoit@northamptonma.gov> Feedback on Oak St. parcel 2 messages Sun, Aug 20, 2023 at 5:14 PM Hello again Keith, I'd like to submit more feedback about this proposed development on Oak St. I have lived at 31 Oak Street for over 20 years, my kids went to JFK, and every day I am witness to JFK students walking and biking to and from school, many times in groups that take over the whole street. I have also been witness to the traffic, sometimes going too fast around the bend that is right in front of my house. It is a dangerous curve on Oak St. If this development plan goes through, the entrance driveway will be right at this bend, right in front of my house. Not only is this unappealing from a personal standpoint, but more importantly it's a public safety issue with Oak Street as the main thoroughfare to JFK. This is one of my biggest objections, aside from losing all the green space and the impact that housing will have on the abutting neighbors. I know you said there were more meetings planned but you also said this was 95% certain this was going ahead. I find it frustrating that you solicit feedback from the neighborhood, yet have given us no indication about our rights as citizens and taxpayers of Northampton. I realize there is a shortage of affordable housing in Northampton, but this development downgrades our neighborhood, probably raises our taxes at the same time it impacts our house values negatively and destroys much of the green space we value along the bike path and in back of the houses along that side of Oak St. Not to mention the public safety issue that is not going to be well received by the JFK community. I believe very few people are in favor of this project and I would hope the city will take the time and consideration to listen to its citizens before this goes ahead. Best regards, Lisa Thompson at 31 Oak St. -- Elizabeth (Lisa) Thompson 31 Oak St. Florence, MA 01062 Mon, Aug 21, 2023 at 10:06 AM Elizabeth, I will request an incident report from the Police Department so see how many accidents or violations have occurred at that corner. It there is an issue with speeding, you can always request traffic calming from the DPW. They will look at the incident report from the police as part of their analysis. The neighborhood has experienced this parcel as a green space for as long as the gravel pit has ceased operation, but it is not designated as such by the City. It is not a conservation area, park, greenway etc. It is only a surplus City property that has not been developed. The current plan is to only develop 7% of the current parcel. Others in the neighborhood had asked that we put a conservation restriction on the remaining parcel (93% of the current parcel) and we are conversation about that now. Feedback is a way for us to work on the design to mitigate impacts, some of which can only come from knowledge from those in the neighborhood. Concerns that we heard from the abutters were lights and noise from the houses, the change in the scenery, keeping the trees and wildlife. Our designers are looking at the various ways to better protect the neighborhood from these issues, but they were already a part of out design criteria. The neighborhood meetings are not a legal requirement and would not be afforded to the neighbours if this were a private developer. We are legally required to notify abutters 300 ft. from the parcel prior to the Planning Board meeting however. You have the right to ask questions, make feedback now as part of the design process. You can also attend the Planning Board meeting and make public comments there for the record (not scheduled yet). As taxpayers, the design work for this was part of a Housing Choice grant from DHCD that was awarded to the City to look at four City owned parcels. The parcels are a little funky (i.e. risky) and need some design work for us to sell them to affordable housing developers. None of the trees over the bike path will be cut down and there is a significant buffer between the two. Thank you for you comments, [Quoted text hidden] -- Keith Benoit, AICP Community Development Planner ADA/Section 504 Coordinator City of Northampton, Office of Planning & Sustainability 210 Main St., Second Floor Northampton, MA 01060 Direct: (413) 587-1288 kbenoit@northamptonma.gov