HISTORY OF SEWER EXTENSION PROJECT
The Amherst Woods Homeowners Association (AWHA) maintains a substantial amount of Common Property in Amherst Woods. Annual Dues cover the cost of landscaping, storm damage cleanup, insurance, real estate taxes, etc.
Regular maintenance of Common Property helps keep property values high, and at $12.50 per month per household, the $150 per year rate is well below most HOA Dues. NOTE: There is a $20 Discount for early payment and two levels of Late Fees.
Regular maintenance of Common Property helps keep property values high, and at $12.50 per month per household, the $150 per year rate is well below most HOA Dues. NOTE: There is a $20 Discount for early payment and two levels of Late Fees.
HOA ANNUAL DUES
ABOUT US
2023-2024 AWHA Board of Directors
Officers:
President: Wade Elmore
Vice President: Martha Hanner
Secretary: James Barnhill
Treasurer: Marc Littman (marc.littman@verizon.net)
-please email Marc for any questions regarding annual fees
Additional AWHA Board Members:
Doug Gagnon
Jack Mattrey
Cathleen Mitchell
Corinne Olsen
AWHA ANNUAL MEETING MINUTES
AWHA's Annual Meeting is held each October/November at Munson Memorial Library. Due to Covid-19, annual meetings in 2020, 2021, and 2022 were held via Zoom. Click on the links below to read the minutes.
AWHA BOARD MINUTES
12-Jan-2022
MAP OF AMHERST WOODS
AMHERST WOODS is sometimes confused with two nearby neighborhoods, East Woods and Amherst Hills. Adding to the confusion, the East Woods neighborhood shares an entrance with Amherst Woods at Old Farm Road and is also adjacent to the Old (South) Landfill, which is Town property. See the map below indicating boundaries (in Blue) for all three neighborhoods.
MAP KEY
ENTRANCES. There are 3 entrances to the Amherst Woods neighborhood: 1) the intersection of Old Farm Road and Wildflower Drive (this entrance is shared with East Woods); 2) the intersection of Station Road and Wildflower Drive, and; 3) the intersection of Old Belchertown Road (off Rt. 9) and Larkspur Drive.
AMHERST WOODS streets include: Alyssum Drive; Foxglove Lane; Indian Pipe Lane; Ladyslipper Circle; Larkspur Drive; Teaberry Lane; Trillium Way; Wildflower Drive; Woodlot Road. The main street in Amherst Woods is Wildflower Drive, with most side streets as cul-de-sacs branching off from Wildflower Drive.
EAST WOODS streets include: Summerfield Road; Tanglewood Road; White Pine Road, along with several houses on the north side of Wildflower Drive closest to Old Farm Road. East Woods is NOT part of Amherst Woods.
AMHERST HILLS streets include: Hawthorn Road; Linden Ridge Road; Concord Way. This neighborhood is still being developed and located further east on Station Road at the intersection with Hawthorn Road. Amherst Hills is NOT part of Amherst Woods.
TOWN PROPERTY includes the Old (South) Landfill adjacent to Wildflower Drive, which is Protected Habitat for the endangered ground-nesting Grasshopper Sparrow and will soon host the Amherst Dog Park. The New (North) Landfill is on the north side of Rt. 9, and is the site of the Transfer Station and a future Solar Array.
NEIGHBORHOOD DIRECTORY
Amherst
Woods
A Neighborhood Directory maintained by AWHA is available to Amherst Woods residents.
Information contained in the Neighborhood Directory is for the exclusive use of residents and not for solicitation purposes of any kind.
To include or update your contact information in the Neighborhood Directory, send the following:
email address, phone number and STREET address to: amherstwoodshoa@gmail.com
RESTRICTIONS & BY-LAWS
DEED RESTRICTIONS: Master Deed Restrictions have expired in Amherst Woods. These deed restrictions outlined what could and could not be done on homeowner property. Since the neighborhood is no longer governed by deed restrictions, we rely upon a "Good Neighbor" policy. When considering changes to your property such as whether to install a fence, or where to locate a debris pile or clothesline, homeowners are urged to consider how they would be impacted if neighbors took the same action on their property and let that serve as a guide to being a good neighbor.
HISTORY: Deed Restrictions were originally written in 1981, when the neighborhood was first being developed. Under Deed Restrictions, changes or alterations to a homeowner's property required residents to follow an Approvals Process overseen by the AWHA Board. The Deed Restrictions were revised in 1997 and again in 2005. Actions were taken in 2004 to extend Deed Restrictions to avoid a 30-year expiration deadline. However, in 2015, the AWHA Board discovered that the 2004 attempt to extend the Deed Restrictions had not met legal requirements. Due to this legal technicality, the 2005 Amherst Woods Deed Restrictions expired in 2011.
EFFORT TO REINSTATE RESTRICTIONS
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In 2015, several Amherst Woods residents expressed the desire to reinstate some Deed Restrictions to protect property values and maintain the character of Amherst Woods. In response, AWHA sent out a Survey on Deed Restrictions to all Amherst Woods homeowners to find out if enough support existed to reinstate some Deed Restrictions. The survey results indicated 5-8 deed restrictions had more than 80% support.
At the 2016 Annual Meeting, a Deed Restrictions COMMITTEE was formed to explore the possibility of reinstating some deed restrictions. However, at the 2017 Annual Meeting, the Deed Restrictions Committee reported that reinstating Deed Restrictions would require unanimous support, so the Committee concluded it was not feasible to reinstate Deed Restrictions in Amherst Woods.
BY-LAWS
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By-Laws are different from Deed Restrictions and define how the Amherst Woods Homeowners Association (AWHA) conducts business as a legal entity. The 2014 By-Laws were amended at an AWHA special meeting on January 12th 2022 in order to change the quorum for meetings. The amended By-Laws are separate from the Deed Restrictions that have governed the Amherst Woods neighborhood for 30 years.