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AMHERST — A set of 22 properties in East Amherst could become part of the town’s third Local Historic District, with the Town Council getting a favorable Planning Board recommendation for the scaled-back proposal. In a narrow 4-3 vote last Wednesday, the Planning Board is supporting creation of the new district, which if the Town Council approves as a general bylaw would join the Emily Dickinson and North Prospect-Lincoln-Sunset districts. Referencing musician Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi” composition and the lyrics “you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone,” board member Fred Hartwell said he endorses the new district. “This is certainly worth protecting to the very mild extent that is involved in the historic district,” Hartwell said. The proposal comes after three years of study and deliberation and a reduction in the number of properties in the district from the 55 that were in a proposal the Planning Board rejected by a 5-1 vote on April 22. If adopted by the Town Council, the new district would impose regulations on what is visible from the street at homes, businesses and other buildings. Also supporting the district creation was member Roy Johnson, who reflected on driving through Boston and seeing Old State House and the site of the Boston Massacre. “It really hit home that preserving some of these buildings is so important, and can you imagine if they had torn that one down?” Johnson said. Board member Bruce Coldham said the amount of effort put in so far wouldn’t be done again if this is rejected. He also disputed that projects can’t happen in such a district. “I don’t think this is going to be an inhibiting factor,” Coldham said. They were joined by Jesse Mager in voting in favor of the district. Chairman Doug Marshall was among three voting against. Marshall said he wonders how much of town to place under such a barrier and, while he enjoys passing by the Noah Dickinson and Daniel Kellogg houses, “many of the other buildings don’t strike me as architecturally special.” Board member Jerah Smith said now is not the right time to create the district, as the Planning Board is trying to find ways to increase housing stock and make things more affordable, while member Angus McLeod said the properties already have a national designation, though this places no limitations on what can be done. McLeod applauded the “wonderful work” of the Local Historic District Commission, but planners have to balance master plan ideas, such as development opportunities with historical protection. “The Planning Board is trying to balance those different priorities, and the Historical Commission is focused on historical preservation, which is their goal, and should be their goal, and I appreciate them for doing that work,” McLeod said. Most of those who spoke supported the district. Nancy Ratner, who chairs the Local Historic District Commission, said the commission had gone to great lengths to come up with a plan and respond to concerns. “Very few towns have the kind of history we have,” Ratner said. “These are houses that are all pre-Civil War, they involve important figures in history.” Former Historical Commission member Hetty Startup said the district has most interesting architectural styles and history, and the buildings are part of the texture of the town. “They are finite. You will not see those kinds of buildings ever again, both in terms of square footage, in terms of how much that kind of craftsmanship would cost today,” Startup said. Hilda Greenbaum, who lives in a 1737 home on Montague Road, said her family has helped turn the lower Main Street neighborhood around from a slum in the 1950s to one with valuable homes. “People like living in old houses that have character, and it’s not true that saving old houses ruins neighborhoods, there’s absolutely no data to support that,” Greenbaum said. A letter of opposition was written by Cinda Jones, president of WD Cowls, Inc., who recently acquired the home at 30 North East St. Known as the Jonathan Hubbard House, Jones appealed for planners to reject the proposal and to have her property carved out, in a similar way to what has happened with the mid-1800s Kellogg House and the former East Street School, an 1894 building which is to become part of an affordable housing development Way Finders. “The revised proposal does not cure the defects that vote identified; it compounds them, by demonstrating that the district’s membership can be expanded or contracted property-by-property based on who asks,” Jones wrote.