Amherst businesswoman to help show the way through permitting process
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Connie Kruger worked in the Amherst Planning Department for 16 years and is now a member of the Planning Board, but when she tried to convert finished space above her garage into a bed-and-breakfast in 2010, she found it hard to wend her way through the permit process.
"What upset me was the not knowing," said Kruger, who ended up paying $530 in mandated fees and application charges as she made the rounds of various town departments. Even then, she ended up opening Hop Brook Bed & Breakfast last March without obtaining the required innholder and common victualler license.
She found that out nine months later when the town manager's office contacted her. She paid the $50 fee and got the license.
Kruger's not opposed to the requirements.
"My point is none of this is in one place," she said, a situation she wants to change. With assistance from the town, the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce and the Five College Bed and Breakfast Association, Kruger plans to craft a guide that will help others navigate what can be a confusing maze.
She made a proposal to the Select Board recently and is now working with the town manager's office on how to proceed.
Process improving
The town's permitting process has often been cited as a source of frustrations for prospective business owners who have claimed it is more cumbersome than in neighboring communities.
Chamber Executive Director Tony Maroulis, a former gallery owner who once had his own complaints about the system, says Kruger's guide would improve a process that has already been getting better. He points to weekly meetings involving building, health and fire inspectors where permit applications are discussed by all relevant officials at once.
"It's gone much more into a customer-service model," Maroulis said. "This really redefines the role and mission of the permitting process."
Maroulis said the town has come a long way in the last several years to address concerns raised by businesspeople about how time-consuming projects can be.
"Looking for solutions rather than problems is the cultural shift we've advocated for," Maroulis said. Still, he acknowledges that Kruger has a point.
"There's not one actual source for a checklist of what you need to do," he said.
Town Manager John Musante, who supports Kruger's ideas, said he is committed to being more customer- and user-friendly, as well as being more responsive.
Musante points to the MUNIS record-keeping system, which was expanded three years ago to encompass an electronic database of permit applications. Building, health and fire inspectors, among others, now can more easily share information about projects.
"We want to make sure all players from all departments have a clear understanding of the entire process, without being experts in any one area," Musante said.
Making the rounds
When Kruger went before the Select Board in January to pitch her guide, she detailed the steps she had to take before opening for business last March.
She had already remodeled the space above her garage, which was used for a time as an extra bedroom when her daughter moved back to the Pioneer Valley.
She said that while the steps for the approval process were unclear, she had no problems with town staff: "Everyone was really helpful, really great."
She said she was able to find some of the information she needed quickly from the town's website, which has an online manual titled "A Citizen's Guide to Project Approval and Review Process" as well as zoning bylaws. However, Kruger said, neither resource included all the steps she needed to take - or wanted to take.
She first determined, using the website, that if her bed-and-breakfast had three or fewer guests, itwould be considered a "by-right use" and an accessory use to the principal dwelling, and thus would not need a special permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals.
But Kruger wanted to establish her bed-and-breakfast as a business, and so she learnedshe should file for a so-called "doing business as" certificate from the town clerk's office with the name "Hop Brook Enterprises." That was $70.
Next, she went to the health department to get inspector Javiera Mir to look over the bedroom and kitchen in her bed-and-breakfast area. Mir asked Kruger to install a thermometer in the refrigerator. The inspection and permit cost $175.
During the inspection, Kruger found out from Mir that she needed to get certified to handle food by taking a state-mandated ServSafe class. It cost her $225 for the four-week course at Greenfield Community College and an additional $10 to take the certification test.
Kruger then went to the building commissioner's office to see what else she needed to do. There, former Building Commissioner Bonnie Weeks told her to submit a parking plan to be kept on file in case neighbors' questions arose. Kruger said she was able to do that at no expense.
Finally, after opening, she learned of the $50 innkeepers license.
"I appreciate the regulation and think it's for the public good, but it's frustrating to me when people can't find it," Kruger said.
Longtime criticism
Through the years, others have been less charitable about the way the town handles its permitting system.
Maroulis himself faced problems when opening his gallery, Wunderarts, which he and his wife, Nora, ran from 2007 to 2009. After purchasing the building, Maroulis faced delays prompted by town inspectors' interpretation of the state fire code that ultimately had to be resolved at the state level.
Maroulis says the process took two months longer than he expected. This is a concern voiced by others, who point out that once a prospective business owner starts making rent or mortgage payments, such delays are costly. Several years ago, Fresh Side restaurant began renting space on South Pleasant Street but didn't open until nine months later because of permitting delays caused by the conversion from retail space into a kitchen and dining room. Tabella restaurant opened on Amity Street two months later than it had intended due to delays in permitting.
Maroulis said Amherst has a complex zoning bylaw that makes the process even bulkier. There are numerous zoning districts throughout town, each with its own list of uses that are allowed by right, not allowed at all or allowed by special permit or site plan review. Some structures in the downtown area predate the building code, meaning they may need additional work to comply.
"Every project, especially in downtown in pre-existing, nonconforming structures, is going to be difficult," Maroulis said. "What we need in these situations is recognition that these complexities have solutions."
Carol Gray, who runs a bed-and-breakfast on South East Street, said the permit process for her busniess took her less than two months.
Still, she thinks a manual would be valuable.
"I do think Connie Kruger's idea about having a step-by-step guide to opening a B and B in Amherst is a good one," Gray said. "It would be helpful to have all this information in one place, including the step about applying for a license from the Select Board, a step that is not mentioned in the zoning bylaw."
Kruger recently met with Debra Roussel, the assistant to the town manager, to advance her idea. "The logical next step is to work with [Kruger] and staff," Musante said. "Let's figure out what's possible."
Kruger, who retired in 2010 as senior program manager for the Massachusetts Housing Partnership, said she has had 26 bookings for more than 40 nights since her Hop Brook B and B opened last March and appreciates the supplementary income it has provided her. She said she has also enjoyed meeting her guests, who are often in Amherst to visit the college campuses or the Dickinson Museum.
She said she'd like to see others find their way to similar ventures, and hopes the guide she is proposing will help.
"I want Amherst to be the best it can be," she said.
