Mayor Sciarra announces Northampton's livability initiatives

Aug. 3, 2022 | Ryan Feyre
rfeyre@thereminder.com

NORTHAMPTON – Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra announced several initiatives that Northampton is embarking on in the coming months to improve the city’s “livability” standards.

The city received a $160,000 MassTrails grant from the Commonwealth’s Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) to repair a century-old crumbling retaining wall along the New Haven and Northampton Canal Greenway. According to DCR, if this section is not repaired, the wall will deteriorate to a point that will force the closure of the New Haven and Northampton Canal Greenway shared use path in Northampton.

Additionally, the city received a $238,000 MassTrails grant from DCR to fund the design of a future bike path from Damon Road to Elm Court in Hatfield. According to the city, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation agreed that this proposal was eligible to receive state and federal construction funding, which now clears the way to start the design process.

“Consistent with the adopted goals in Sustainable Northampton, the city will continue to seek ways to knit neighborhoods back together through walking and bicycle connections,” Sciarra said in a statement to Reminder Publishing. “This will transform our streets, especially the ones built solely for the purposes of serving automobiles, to serve the needs of all users.”

Northampton is also working on some affordable housing initiatives to help people who are being priced out of the housing market. The city is currently seeking bids to demolish the former Moose Lodge on Cooke Avenue for future housing development of up to four affordable housing units. The city also recently transferred a surplus parcel of land on the western edge of the former Northampton State Hospital to Habitat for Humanity for three affordable housing units, and just completed upgrading the infrastructure on Laurel Street to accommodate the eventual development of 20 affordable housing units.

“Starting with the Sustainable Northampton Plan in 2008 and followed by multiple plans and analyses since, the city has embarked on a deliberate process to revise the city’s codes and zoning to encourage climate-friendly, sustainable development that works to address the housing shortage in Northampton,” Sciarra said. “Seven City Councilors and three mayors have worked to clarify and streamline city rules to encourage responsible development consistent with our climate change and equity values.”

According to Sciarra, the zoning amendment that created a process that mirrors the state’s 40B process has allowed an easier path for Habitat for Humanity to build additional subsidized affordable single-family residential units on Woodland Drive and Burts Pit Road, and it will aid in other affordable housing projects, like the one on Cooke Avenue.

Meanwhile, the expansion of the city’s 40R overlay has enabled a more straightforward path for Valley CDC in approvals for 20 subsidized affordable units on Laurel Street, and it will aid in the process for their planned 60-unit affordable housing project on Bridge Road.

“Northampton has always been a wonderful place to live, but our community has indeed worked hard, through careful planning and collective goal-setting, to develop new housing close to the city centers, thoughtfully break down barriers for pedestrians and cyclists and encourage bicycle and pedestrian transportation not just for recreation, but as an alternative to commuting by automobile,” said Sciarra. “These values inform every new project undertaken by and in the city, and I believe we are on our way toward meeting our climate targets by 2030 for city government and the entire city by 2050. Each step along this path and every goal we accomplish contributes to Northampton’s livability and long-term resilience.”

According to DCR, the grants received by the city must be used by June 2023.

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