Monday, February 4, 2013

Amherst Peace Accords

Hobart Lane: The street with no name 

The war against rowdy rental units disturbing the peace and quiet of residential neighborhoods dates back a generation.  In fact, some of today's violators could very well be offspring of students who attended the University way back when it carried the ignoble moniker "ZooMass." 

A recent major skirmish, relatively short by municipal standards, came to a (sort of) successful close this past Thursday. The Amherst Zoning Board of Appeals allowed prominent local landord Grandonico Properties, LLC to withdraw their appeal of Building Commissioner Rob Morra's $100/day fine for violating the town bylaw forbidding more than four unrelated tenants per single-family household.

But not before paying $2,400 in fines and -- most important -- agreeing to change their lease language to clearly demonstrate they will abide by the town's zoning ordinance.

One down, a few more to go...





1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I just watched the replay of this hearing on TV. So how did you get the document? Farber did not want it made public.

By the way, the ZBA was emphatic in saying that the owner(s) would be liable for the $100/day fine, NOT the tenants as this document says. Interesting.