Ann McCallum discusses the potential for a housing development on Main Street at a recent Planning Board meeting

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Planning Board and Economic Development Committee held a joint meeting on Monday to talk about how the work of the former might help spur the local economy.

 

Members of EDC were happy to hear that the Planning Board's current projects include a re-evaluation of the town's residential zoning bylaws. Specifically, the Planning Board is trying to see if the rules could be changed to allow more densely populated neighborhoods.

 

That's good news to the EDC, which has identified a lack of moderately priced housing as an impediment to economic growth in the Village Beautiful.

 

The Planning Board for months has been discussing whether the bylaws arbitrarily restrict the housing market by requiring excessive lot sizes and frontages for new building lots.

 

"A lot of the rules encoded in our bylaw limit supply," Planning Board member Chris Winters told the committee. "That's what they're written to do. We could take every one of those numbers, cut them in half and double the number of developable lots.

 

"We've got a lot of green grass in Williamstown. We love our green grass in Williamstown."

 

A lot of people also like preserving the property they have acquired, and Winters and EDC member Stephen Sheppard acknowledged that there likely would be significant opposition to anything as radical as "cutting the numbers in half" when proposed bylaw amendments face a vote at town meeting.

 

Doubling the supply of available building lots could depress home prices, Winters acknowledged. And others at the meeting pointed out that some may not like the idea of a subdivided lot altering the character of a neighborhood.

 

Another change the Planning Board is looking at — allowing large homes to be divided into more than two units — could face opposition for the same reason. But Winters argued that such a change could benefit all homeowners, whether they choose to divide their homes or not.

 

"People have to understand there's not just a risk to giving more rights to property owners," he said. "There might also be a reward."

 

Planning Board member Ann McCallum shared with the EDC her idea for how one underutilized lot in town could benefit from a pair of zoning changes: rezoning from commercial to residential and allowing for denser development.

 

As discussed at the Planning Board's Sept. 1 meeting, McCallum, an architect, has done a conceptual design that envisions 14 residences on a lot that encompasses the former Agway property and an adjacent lot — both currently on the market.

 

McCallum's concept calls for an "enclave of two-family, three-family and four-family [townhomes] surrounding a green space," she had explained at the Sept. 1 meeting. McCallum's design includes homes ranging from 1,200 to 1,600 square feet and puts twice the number of homes on the acreage than would be allowed if it was rezoned residential under the current bylaw.

 

The concept drew praise from EDC member Paul Harsch, a real estate agent, who called it, "one of the best plans I've seen to address the affordable housing issue."

 

Like any bylaw change, the redistricting of a portion of the Main Street corridor would be a question for town meeting. And Planning Board Chairwoman Amy Jeschawitz told the EDC that her board plans a public outreach campaign to gather feedback from the community before proposing any amendments.

 

Planning Board Chairwoman Amy Jeschawitz tells the committee her board is planning outreach efforts before proposing zoning amendments.

The chairman of the town's Affordable Housing Committee, who attended Monday's meeting, said he was encouraged by the work of the Planning Board so far.

 

"Based on what we've been looking at and what we think are the needs in town, we think that what the Planning Board is looking to do is going in the right direction," Van Ellet said. "Being able to use what we currently have more effectively is going to help ... whether it's to put an addition on an existing house or put two or three units on a lot.

 

"I think they're going through a very good process. They're going to get public input. They're going to take a a giant first step in unlocking the potential in the housing market here."

 

Housing is not the only issue on the Planning Board's agenda that relates to economic development.

 

Winters and Town Planner Andrew Groff, who staffs the Planning Board, are looking at the town's bylaw governing professional offices in residential districts. Based on feedback from the Zoning Board of Appeals, which administers the bylaw, the current bylaw with its reference to "any generally recognized profession, such as medical or dental practitioner, attorney, engineer or architect" is at once two narrow (listing a few examples) and too vague ("generally recognized profession").

 

Groff told the EDC that he and Winters are looking at language that emphasizes the potential impact to a neighborhood (parking, traffic, signage, etc.) rather than the type of profession in question.

 

Selectmen Andrew Hogeland, a member of the EDC, encouraged the Planning Board to pursue that change and look for other ways to help commercial development in the town.

 

EDC Chairman Jeffrey Thomas concurred, saying that maximizing opportunities for business development should be a priority.

 

"We don't know what the future holds," Thomas said. "We don't know how the economy is going to change. There are areas of the country where manufacturing is coming back.

 

"I would encourage you to take the same broadening stance to commercial that you are to residential ... and create as many opportunities as you can and let the market figure out what businesses could succeed here."