Northampton Planning Board Continues 91-Unit King Street Affordable Housing Hearing to July

NORTHAMPTON -- June 11, 2026, Northampton Planning Board continues major downtown affordable housing hearing after design dispute. The board voted unanimously June 11 to continue a site plan and special permit hearing for a 91-unit affordable housing development at 33 King Street to July 9, with project approval contingent on resolving questions about whether the Merrick Lane facade of the six-story King Street building meets the city's character-based zoning and Central Business Architecture design standards. The project, led by Valley Community Development and The Community Builders, would demolish the former Hall of Records and construct two mixed-use buildings totaling roughly 114,000 square feet and 91 affordable units, with just 29 onsite parking spaces, none required under Central Business Core zoning. Resident Alex Bowman argued the project "objectively fails to meet requirements of 350-21, not by interpretation, but by law," and called for a joint hearing with the Central Business Architecture Committee; Dan Brindell, appearing via Zoom, pressed the board to explain publicly where residents without parking lottery spots would go. Planning Director Carolyn read the applicable waiver standard aloud, requiring a finding of unique site characteristics creating undue burden, as board members acknowledged they have not yet determined how to apply it to the Merrick Lane elevation. The board also unanimously approved a site plan to convert a 1925 barn at 17 Stilson Avenue in Florence to a single residential unit, its second such approval under the city's historic accessory structure conversion ordinance.