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.