The South Williamstown Community Association

Promoting community, historical preservation and neighborhood building for Williamstown and surrounding locales.

PLANNING BOARD PUBLIC HEARING AND INFORMATION SESSION

by | Mar 18, 2022 | News

Dear Neighbor,
I am forwarding to you below more information on the warrant articles being proposed by the Planning Board sent to me by PB member Stephanie Boyd.
Bette Craig, President, SWCA


It’s that time of year again, where we begin to prepare for Town Meeting.  The Planning Board has crafted a number of warrant articles — 9 in total, with sub bullets!  whew 

Here are some thoughts on how to get involved.

Interesting sessions to attend:

1. PUBLIC HEARING: The Williamstown Planning Board is hosting a public hearing on its warrant articles for Town Meeting on Tuesday, March 22 at 7 pm.  You can attend the hearing in person at Town Hall or virtually via Zoom.  

2. INFORMAL INFO SESH – To help sort out the articles, I have agreed to an informal zoom session on Sunday, March 20 at 7pm I’ll do my best to answer questions that you may have about the articles and about the process moving forward.  Join in via zoom at this link.  

What are the articles?

Some of the warrant articles simply tidy up some language but others propose significant changes related to housing density.  Generally, all board members support many of the articles related to increasing housing opportunities in the main residential areas in town.  We want to support a mix of housing types and reduce some building restrictions!

On the other hand, there is not agreement among all board members about proposed articles that would increase the density of housing in rural areas.  Increasing density has the potential to negatively impact the environment, wildlife habitat, water resources, tourism and farming industries among others. And increasing impermeable surfaces leads to increased occurrences and intensities of flooding. Many have expressed concerns about these articles and the seemingly rushed process.

In General Residence, GR, the main residential part of town stretching from the Vermont border to North Adams, several articles intended to increase housing density are proposed. These include:
  • Increasing the number of units from 16 to 24 in multi-unit buildings
  • Reducing dimensional requirements like side yards, and building spacing for multi-unit 
  • buildings
  • Increasing the number of housing units on a residential lot to 4.
  • Reducing by ⅓ the minimum residential lot size and related dimensions like frontage and side yard setback.

In Rural Residence 2, RR2, the rural part of town that includes the upper reaches of Henderson Road and White Oaks, along with much of route 43, Green River Road, Hopper Rd, Oblong Rd, Woodcock Rd, Bee Hill Rd, etc., those areas not served by Town water and sewer, several proposed articles intended to increase housing density are proposed.  These include: 
  • Increasing the number of housing units on a residential lot to 4 with ZBA approval.
  • Reducing by ⅓ the minimum residential lot size and related dimensions like frontage and side yard setback.

Some of the warrant articles can have a multiplying effect.  For example, a residential subdivision could be approved that includes 4-dwelling unit buildings on each of 8 lots, resulting in 32 condo-type units.  
I want to learn more, what do I do?

To learn more about the proposed warrant articles, here are some resources:

All the best,



Stephanie Boyd

413-884-3498

I’m sorry – if you have received this email more than once!



pdf icon 2022-Amendments-for-2.28-SB.pdf