Planning Board approves five‑story mixed‑use building at 3 Elm Street with conditions

The Northampton Planning Board voted to approve a site plan and special permit for a five‑story mixed‑use building at 3 Elm Street after a continuation hearing April 24 that followed two earlier hearings this year.

The project, proposed by Sunwood Builders and presented by Jeff Squire of Brookshire Design Group, will replace a largely asphalt parking lot with a mixed‑use building that includes ground‑floor commercial space and a parking garage on the first level. Squire told the board the project had obtained a stormwater permit and a certificate of appropriateness from the Elm Street Historic District, two items the board had requested at earlier hearings.

The approval came after the applicant presented architectural revisions and site adjustments that board members and the Elm Street Historic Commission had requested. Architect Charles Roberts described changes made to reduce the apparent scale and improve the streetscape: “We went to more of a punched opening look... we added a more detailed heavy cornice,” and he said the team had softened the State Street elevation with tree plantings, street‑level planters and vertical trellis planters.

Board staff summarized written public comments received ahead of the hearing and opened two minutes of public comment per speaker. Residents and neighborhood representatives raised recurring concerns about curb cuts and driveway access, the scale of the building adjacent to the church and rectory, potential impacts on parking for neighboring properties and pedestrian safety. In public comment, Benjamin Spencer of Northampton urged the board to weigh the project’s housing contribution, saying, “We are in a housing crisis. The 2 projects before the planning board tonight will combined add a 25 market rate units to Downtown Northampton rental market.”

Applicant representatives clarified technical details requested at earlier meetings: they widened the garage entrance to 20 feet, added tree pits with structural soil and FlexiPave treatment for sidewalk trees, narrowed a secondary curb cut to 14 feet to function as an exit‑only driveway, and located stormwater controls and tree landscaping at the corner plaza. The applicant also reported a resident bike storage area sized for 32 bicycles and additional public bike racks at street level.

Planning staff recommended several conditions and the board adopted conditions that included: installation of tree protection prior to site disturbance, finalization of plans to meet the stormwater permit requirements, use of FlexiPave rather than metal grates on specified tree pits, submission of as‑built exterior lighting showing compliance with the lighting ordinance prior to certificate of occupancy, and confirmation of tree replacement calculations or payment in lieu. The board also discussed and endorsed staff‑recommended conditions for screened trash/dumpster enclosures, maintenance of a proposed open green area at the rear of the parcel for residents, and signage/gate controls at the southerly garage opening to make it exit‑only.

The Planning Board moved to close the public hearing and then moved to approve the combined site plan and special permit for 3 Elm Street with the conditions noted on the record. The board recorded agreement that the sidewalk clearance adjacent to the project would be 5.5 feet in the approved plans (the applicant and staff explained why that clearance met site constraints). No further hearing dates were set for this item; the decision will be implemented through the usual building‑permit and as‑built plan review process.

The board and staff noted the project had addressed several technical comments from DPW and the historic commission, but that construction will be subject to standard building permit and utility‑connection reviews outside the planning board’s permit. The board also made a record of the Elm Street Historic Commission’s issuance of the certificate of appropriateness and the DPW stormwater permit being in the project record.

Votes at a glance: the Planning Board voted to close the public hearing and then to approve the site plan and special permit for 3 Elm Street, with conditions. The final written decision will list the specific condition language and any required plan revisions.

This approval covers only the submitted plans for the new building and the site work shown in the application; the board noted that future changes to uses of the adjacent church and rectory are separate matters and would be considered under the appropriate processes if and when they are proposed.