The forum on Wednesday was sponsored by the Greylock Independent and moderated by Bill Densmore.

Susan Puddester, who is running for the five-year term on the Planning Board, speaks as Bruce MacDonald, candidate for the unexpired two-year term, looks on. Sarah Gardner, also running for the five-year term, was out of town but sent a video statement.

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The five candidates for two spots on the Planning Board shared their visions on Wednesday for the town and what they would do to implement those ideas.

Four of the five attended a candidates forum sponsored by the Greylock Independent at Williamstown Elementary School. A fifth, Sarah Gardner, was unable to attend but supplied a brief videotaped statement. A sixth potential candidate, Lindsay Errichetto, has pulled out of the race.

Anne Hogeland, Chris Kapiloff, Bruce MacDonald and Susan Puddester participated in a 90-minute panel discussion moderated by Bill Densmore.

All four candidates, Densmore and one member of the audience tried to keep the forum from being dominated by a discussion of an issue that, in theory, none of the newly elected members of the board may face: a proposed overlay district at Waubeeka Golf Course.

The Waubeeka bylaw is on the warrant for the annual town meeting, and if it passes on May 17, it will be a moot point when terms begin for board members elected in the May 10 town election.

But it did not take long for the issue to be raised, and each of the candidates in the room offered his or her own take on the subject.

The only candidate currently serving on the Planning Board, Gardner, put the Waubeeka question front and center in her candidate statement. Gardner is not, strictly speaking, an incumbent. She is running for a five-year seat on the board, not the remaining two years on a seat she is filling on an interim basis.

The two-year unexpired seat is being sought by Hogeland, Kapiloff and MacDonald. Puddester is running against Gardner for a full five-year term.

Kapiloff was the first to address the overlay question head on, responding to one of the questions the candidates themselves submitted in advance. He said that while it was legal for the current Planning Board to request a market analysis from Waubeeka owner Michael Deep, the request was ill advised.

"I think it is entirely inappropriate to be asking for things like were asked of Mike Deep," Kapiloff said. "I'd like to read from the minutes of the Jan. 26 Planning Board meeting ... One of the board members said, 'The first meeting I was at in December, someone presented research they had done talking to hotel owners saying they're having a very difficult time keeping their hotels solvent and keeping their rooms occupied. If we do this without any sort of hotel study, we could be hurting existing businesses.'"

The quote was from Gardner, citing comments made by Planning Board member Ann McCallum.

"Do we protect our friends' hotels from people who want to come and develop new ones?" Kapiloff asked. "Does the Planning Board want a planned economy here in Williamstown? I think that's a really dangerous precedent to set."

Kapiloff, who said he grew up on the hole of Waubeeka, later said he thought the 40 acres of development allowable in the warrant article as written would be too much for the area, a sentiment expressed to some extent by each of the candidates in attendance.

Puddester noted that Deep already has offered to accept an amendment on the floor of town meeting lowering the developable "envelope" to 10 acres, or 5 percent of the total property.

"I don't think, based on my experience, that all 10 acres is going to be buildable," Puddester said. "I learned with the building of Highland Woods — the college gave us 4 1/2 acres, but you can't build on the whole lot. … There are a lot of factors that go into where you're going to place the inn, and I don't have the expertise to say what the magic number is.

"Read the minutes of the first meeting, and [Deep] called it a 'New England style inn of three stories.' I hope the Planning Board can work with the landowner and the Board of Selectmen to come up with a good plan."

Puddester also said it was "too bad" the Planning Board chose, in a 3-2 vote, not to continue working with Deep, a decision that led to the introduction of the overlay bylaw by citizens' petition.

Hogeland and MacDonald, who both live near the golf course, both said they could not support the warrant article as currently drafted.

"I would support smart development," MacDonald said. "I would support an inn. I believe 5 acres is ample. I believe 65 rooms is ample. … I would like to see it be a plus for the town, but it needs to be done properly. I'd like to know the 5 acres to be developed and where they are. I'd like to Planning Board to have design review so an ugly monstrosity can't be built."

Hogeland agreed.

"I might accept a well-drafted bylaw that's fair to the town and consistent with the Master Plan, not slanted to the developer," she said.

Hogeland cited a restriction in Great Barrington that limits new hotels to 45 rooms and indicated Williamstown may want to follow a similar course.

Moments later, resident Joan Blair came to the microphone to remind the room of the evening's purpose.

"I'm here to decide who to vote for for the Planning Board of 2017 and beyond," she said.

Ann Hogeland and Chris Kapiloff are running to fill two years of an unexpired term on the Planning Board.

Looking further down the road, Densmore asked the panel about its thoughts on the town's Master Plan, which has not been revised since 2002.

Kapiloff responded by noting that the Master Plan is echoed in the 2015 report of the town's Economic Development Committee, and said the problem is not a lack of planning but a lack of action. Several times during the forum, Kapiloff cast himself in the role of the "can-do" candidate.

"Putting things into practice is when things get done," he said.

Hogeland noted that the 2002 Master Plan was a three-year effort, but she hopes the next iteration can be completed more quickly. She noted that the Conservation Commission already is working on the Open Space and Recreation component of the plan, and the Affordable Housing Committee is planning to commission a housing needs assessment that could feed the housing component of the Master Plan.

"Housing would be my first priority in the Master Plan review, and I think it's a particularly out of date section," she said.

MacDonald said his priority would be revamping the town's zoning laws to utilize form-based zoning in parts of town that are appropriate.

His candidate statement characterized Williamstown's current single-use zoning approach as stifling development. He favors the form-based approach that emphasizes the types of buildings that can be situated in a zoning district rather than the types of uses that are allowed there.

"Form-based code would maintain the current appearance of existing structures and require design review for new development," MacDonald wrote. "Instituting these zoning changes will not immediately transform Williamstown but will provide business owners and service providers a 'by right' opportunity to locate or relocate their business to one of the newly formed form-based areas. Form-based code will preserve the 'look' of Williamstown as well as enhance it in the future."

Puddester joined Hogeland in noting the importance of looking at the town's housing bylaws. She pointed out that the current Planning Board already was developing ideas for allowing multifamily development before it was sidetracked by a prolonged discussion of the Waubeeka overlay discussion.

In response to a question about the Planning Board's impact on agriculture in town, MacDonald said he thought the town already does "an excellent job of preserving its farmland," but that he looked forward to gathering more input from farmers about what more could be done.

Puddester said the problem is not a lack of open space but a lack of farmers, and it is important for the town to keep the ones it has. Kapiloff suggested that zoning laws could be used to open up more money-making opportunities for the town's existing farmers.

Hogeland, who manages the Williamstown Farmers Market, said that farming needs to be a priority for the town.

Gardner, who missed Wednesday's forum because of a prior commitment to attend a climate change conference in Maryland, is a longtime advocate of farming who has served on the town's Agriculture Commission in addition her time on the Conservation Commission. Her candidate's statement asserted that, "[New England] is one of the only regions in the U.S., possibly the world, where climate changes will improve conditions for agriculture."

In their closing statements, the candidates put the focus on the future, with all four mentioning that they want to plan for a community to which future generations will want to return.

Kapiloff, who has three elementary school-aged children and is a fourth-generation resident himself, first brought up the idea of making the town attractive to young adults who too often go off to college and never come back. Both Hogeland and Puddester picked up on that theme.

"A lot of the things the Planning Board is going to do in terms of walkability, diversity, home occupation businesses — hopefully those will all help bring back and keep young people here," Hogeland said.

"It would be great to have Chris' kids coming back here," Puddester said. "It's not about us. It's about planning for the future."

The five active candidates for Planning Board seats are scheduled to appear in two other panel discussions this month as part of a series of fora presented by the League of Women Voters. Hogeland, Kapiloff and MacDonald will meet on April 13 at 7:30 p.m.; Gardner and Puddester are scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. on April 26.

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