Master Plan 2014
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A MASTER PLAN FOR NORTHFIELD APPENDIX B: INVENTORY Northfield, Massachusetts 2014 Martha Lyon Landscape Architecture, LLC with Community Circle, Community Preservation Associates, and AECOM (page intentionally blank) A Master Plan for Northfield INVENTORY OF EXISTING RESOURCES Appendix B of the 2014 Master Plan for Northfield contains the complete inventory and assessment of existing conditions, organized around seven Master Plan elements: Historic and Cultural Resources Natural Resources, Open Space and Recreation Land Use and Zoning Population, Housing and Neighborhoods Economic Development Transportation and Circulation Community Facilities and Services A set of one‐page summary sheets, prepared for each of the elements and used throughout the Plan’s public participation and outreach efforts, precedes the inventory. Page 1 A Master Plan for Northfield Northfield’s Historic & Cultural Resources 1 A CENTURIES‐LONG HISTORY MANY EXTANT HISTORIC RESOURCES WHAT DOES IT MEAN? Humans have inhabited Northfield for centuries, drawn to the river and its rich, alluvial floodplains. Opportunity exists to bring heritage tourism to The Squakeags occupied the area into the 17th century. Colonists settled the area twice beginning in Northfield centered on the legacy of the the 1670s and before establishing a permanent settlement in ca. 1713. Squakeags, D. L. Moody, the Schell Bridge, and Agriculture has always been part of the Northfield economy, first as a means of subsistence, and later neighboring institutions that share this history, as a larger-scale producer of crops. including Historic Deerfield. Historically, the town has contained five distinct villages, the Farms, the Mountain, Main Street, East Northfield, and West Northfield. The Connecticut River provides additional Northfield holds an unparalleled collection of houses designed and built by the Stearns family, as well opportunity for eco-tourism and recreation- as buildings designed by world-renowned architects on the Northfield School campus. based tourism. For much of the 20th century, two large institutions – the Northfield School for Girls/Northfield Mount Hermon and The Northfield (inn). The older homes in Northfield, particularly the Many of the town’s historic buildings and landscape remain intact, giving Northfield’s Main Street an Stearns houses, provide primary source material authentic, early 19th century appearance. The town’s setting, beneath the broad slopes of Northfield for the study of early American architecture. Mountain and overlooking the Connecticut River, furthers this visual appeal. By making Northfield a destination for tourism, business development along Main Street is likely HISTORIC RESOURCES AT THE CENTER OF TOWN PLANNING to occur. Historic and cultural resources have played a central and significant role in many past town-wide planning efforts, from 1977 to the present. Many of these efforts, including establishing the National Traffic-calming measures on Main Street, Register Historic District on Main Street, have been spear-headed by the Northfield Historical including creative parking and crosswalk design Commission. will help preserve the historic buildings and Efforts to influence the future of the Northfield campus have been undertaken in a collaborative, provide better access to businesses. cooperative manner. Historically-sensitive approaches to infill FORWARD‐THINKING HISTORIC & CULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS development along Main Street are needed to The Northfield Historical Commission has taken an active role in interpreting, preserving, and help insure the long-term protection of advocating for the town’s historic resources. Northfield’s character. The Dickinson Memorial Library serves, in part, as a cultural “hub” for the town. Northfield’s Local Cultural Council has both imported programs, and arranged for residents to attend programs in other towns. Northfield has demonstrated flexibility in the face of change for forming new organizations and committees in response to economic, social and cultural shifts. Page 2 A Master Plan for Northfield Northfield’s Natural Resources, Open Space & Recreation NATURAL2 RESOURCES WHAT DOES IT MEAN? Twenty one point five percent of Northfield’s 22,633 acres is steep with slopes of more than 25% and Development or recreational activities on steep extremely sensitive to erosion; these steep slopes add visual drama and have potential, although slopes should be carefully controlled to prevent limited, for recreation and education use. soil erosion. Several soils constrain development due to flooding and high water table for most of the year, or Care should be taken to avoid development that shallow depth to bedrock and the presence of hardpan in places. Ledge and steep slopes can also be would promote soil erosion or detract from the present. visual appeal of the ridges. Prime soils produce the highest yields with the fewest inputs, and farming in these areas results in the While some soils present few limitations for least damage to the environment. construction they represent a small percentage The Connecticut River is a major feature of Northfield but it is impaired by pollution. of the town’s total available area. Development Northfield, with more than 16,300 acres of woodlands, has large areas of mixed hardwood and pine is therefore likely to occur on soils that are less forest that produce clean air, reduce run off and flooding, and moderate climate. Wetland and conducive. upland plant communities provide rich wildlife habitat, enhance passive recreation experiences, and Protecting water resources will become a more add visual interest to the landscape. important priority as development occurs on In the Town of Northfield, there are several BioMap 2 Core Habitat areas that are protected or partly soils that are less conducive to construction. are protected from future development and several that remain unprotected. Protecting the town’s BioMap 2 resources OPEN SPACE should be a priority for conservation. Northfield has beautiful views, a rich architectural heritage and large areas of forest that provide the Maintaining the biodiversity of Northfield over scenic infrastructure of the town. Without protection and careful planning these attractive features the long term will likely require the protection could be lost to development. of both unique habitats for specific species and Northfield has more than 4,005.6 acres of permanently protected open space and recreation land. networks of habitat across the landscape. Forty-one percent of Northfield (9,336.5 acres) is some form of protected open space. Maintaining the character of Northfield will increasingly depend on preserving the town’s RECREATION agricultural land and scenic resources. Northfield has a variety of recreation resources, some managed by the Recreation Commission, the The creation of a “community park” with space School Department, Conservation Commission, the State Forest, and private recreation resources for fields, swimming, ice skating, tennis, and like Northfield Mountain and the golf course. gathering should be a priority for the future. Surveys and meeting in 2011 revealed the desire for recreational swimming facilities, ice skating facilities, and playing fields for school-age baseball, softball and soccer teams. Though Northfield has extensive frontage on both sides of the Connecticut River, there currently are no riverbank trails. There is considerable interest in developing such trails, and should that happen these would be convenient for almost all residents of the town. Page 3 A Master Plan for Northfield Northfield’s Land Use & Zoning EXISTING3 LAND USE WHAT DOES IT MEAN? 78.7% of Northfield is open land, agriculture, wetlands, or forest. Much of Northfield is undeveloped and Of the remaining 4,821 developed acres, 58.8% is agricultural, 24.0% is residential, 0.9% is unprotected from future development. commercial, 0.4% is industrial, and 2.5 is recreation and golf course. Other recreation land and Controlling future development will become an activity is associated with schools (institutional). Other developed land (institutional, waste increasingly important priority. disposal, junkyards, and mining) makes up the remaining 15.4%. Existing zoning has several provisions that can EXISTING ZONING foster “good” development, such as the Open The Town of Northfield currently has two principal zoning districts: Residential-Agricultural (RA) Space Residential Design provision. and Residential-Agricultural-Forested (RAF) and three overlay districts: the Floodplain District, The Town may want to be more proactive in the Water Supply Protection District, and the Solar Photovoltaic Overlay District defining incentives for open space in the Open The town has a flexible development measure that includes provisions for multiple family Space Residential Design regulation – like dwellings and by-right Open Space Residential Design which allows smaller lot sizes in exchange defining connections between existing open for at least 50% of the land being set aside for open space spaces and expanding trail networks. The uses allowed by special permit in the two districts include both small commercial uses, such as Creating a commercial district might encourage a gift shop or professional office, and large industrial uses, such as manufacturing or a some kinds of development that is hindered by transportation facility the process of going through obtaining a special Both districts allow