Officials in Northampton, Massachusetts, have advanced language that could lead to the city requiring new construction and major renovation projects be fossil fuel-free, with some exceptions. An ordinance was advanced to the city council this week, amid concerns voiced by some residents and architects.
At a subcommittee meeting Monday, Northampton Ward 5 City Councilor Alex Jarrett and other councilors voted to move the proposal up to the full city council, with an emphasis on having further discussions and amendments.
“State and local action is critical on climate at this point, especially with the upcoming federal administration, and … we need to phase out our existing fossil fuel infrastructure over time, so it doesn't make sense to build new infrastructure that we then have to phase out, if that's feasible presently,” Jarrett said during a the City Council Committee on Legislative Matters meeting Monday, Jan. 6.
Late last year, the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources announced Northampton could take part in a “Municipal Fossil Fuel Free Building Demonstration Program” after filing to join a year prior.
According to the DOER, the pilot program allows participating communities to “adopt and amend” their ordinances and bylaws to require “new building construction or major renovation projects to be fossil fuel-free.”
With ten spots available, almost all of the cities approved to take part were on the other side of the state, including Brookline, Lexington and Cambridge. But, one community withdrew, opening up a spot that Northampton secured over Somerville, effectively making it the only western Mass community to take part.
“… it was something that we had kind of demonstrated the capacity to do in the past … and it was something that a lot of people in the community wanted,” said Northampton Climate Action & Project Administration Director Benjamin Weil, pointing out how state officials are looking to study the results of such a municipal ban. “I would say one of the things that was a concern for DOER was that they weren't getting very much for it, and that's because we were already very, very close to that, just by default.”
Weil noted Northampton already has similar restrictions on the books, including the adoption of a “Municipal Opt-in Specialized Stretch Code” that, while not completely banning fossil fuels, packs requirements for new projects that effectively gear buildings toward being all-electric.
There are exceptions and waivers established in the ordinance for research labs, hospitals, and medical offices. There are also carveouts for cooking and woodburning appliances, emergency generators and property owners looking to simply replace older equipment like boilers.
“I think it's really important to emphasize that, again, what does not change is that like-for-like replacements are not considered a major renovation, they're not incurring this thing,” he explained. “So, it's not like all of a sudden, you can't replace your boiler with anything other than an air-to-water heat pump. That wouldn't be reasonable.”
What is reasonable was the subject of several public comments, as a number of residents voiced concerns over the ordinance and its language.
Aelan Tierney, president of the Amherst-based Kuhn Riddle Architects & Designers, said while she appreciates Northampton’s drive to build a green and sustainable community, she’s seeing some building projects in the region more or less stop amid pre-existing regulations like stretch code.
Further restrictions aren’t likely to help on that front.
“We have found that even just the stretch code in some communities have caused projects to have stopped, like a change-of-use from a dormitory to a child care center couldn't move forward because the costs of bringing that building up to meet just the stretch code, not even the fossil fuel - and it didn't apply to the Opt-In code - meant that that project couldn't move forward.”
Among the projects Tierney’s firm has been enlisted for is a proposed 71-unit, mixed-use apartment building off of Elm and State streets in Northampton.
Another local architect and principal of the firm Jones Whitsett Architects, Dorrie Brooks, also shared her approval of the city’s green initiatives.
But, Brooks emphasized such plans to ban fossil fuel from future construction and major renovations is an expensive endeavor that could be shouldered by wealthier communities, but is a far heavier burden for a city in western Massachusetts.
“We are not Brookline, we're not Newton, we're not Arlington. The value of the properties in this city are significantly lower. The quality and condition of many of them - they're in desperate need of renovation, both downtown and many residences,” Brooks said. “And the challenge is, that if we take this and add this burden on top of other burdens that a property owner has in trying to renovate their property, we create the conditions by which they may choose not to renovate at all or they may leave the city and do exactly the same project just across the street, in another community. “
Brooks’s firm was previously enlisted for the city’s “Community Resilience Hub” project, an effort to convert the former First Baptist Church on Main Street into a spot designated to supporting residents who face "chronic and acute stress due to climate change and social vulnerability."
There were proponents of the project at the meeting as well. Tom Basset of Florence called the ordinance a good step to take in terms of Northampton being the first western Mass community to take part in the program, while calling attention to the public awareness component.
“There's quite a large percentage of the population that doesn't know much about this kind of initiative,” Basset said. “and they think it is … dictating that they not use any fossil fuels and dictating what they bought for appliances and just - it's an opportunity to really turn around people's view on what it means to be making changes to help mitigate climate change.”
The Northampton City Council is scheduled to meet next on Jan. 16 at 6:30 p.m.
