Letter: Another look at Williamstown Warrant Article 33

To the Editor:

The Planning Board has been working hard to expand housing options in Williamstown. This is an important issue and one I fully support, but perhaps it has been working a little too hard.

Last year's housing proposal didn't even make it to town meeting before it was stopped by citizens who raised a number of valid concerns. That proposal targeted a specific area of town for increased density and would have allowed six housing units per lot by right and up to eight units per lot with Zoning Board of Appeals approval. In short it was viewed as an ill-considered and aggressive effort being foisted upon a small area of town, and with too little time left to rework the article, it was tabled.

As a current member of the Williamstown Planning Board, I do not have the impression that NIMBYism is a major issue here, and I believe that there is significant support among the community for new housing options, in general, and for more affordable housing, in specific. The problem is finding an acceptable balance between the legal change of neighborhood rights and expectations, and the accommodation of those changes.

This year, the Planning Board has delivered two new articles, 32 and 33 for consideration at town meeting on May 21. Both articles extend new rights to most residential zones in Williamstown. Although Article 32 is likely to be uncontested, Article 33 remains controversial for allowing a total of three dwelling units per lot in residential neighborhoods, and differentiating between the rights of property owners by allowing new construction of a detached dwelling unit "by right" on conforming residential lots, and only by special permit on non-conforming lots. In Williamstown, these homes are often next door to one another.

To address the issue of imbalance in property rights, an amendment to Article 33 will be presented at town meeting by Anne Hogeland and newly elected Planning Board member Dante Birch. That amendment will retain the current requirement of ZBA approval for all detached dwelling units and restores a level of fairness to this article.

Alex Carlisle
Williamstown, Mass. 

Carlisle is a member of the Planning Board and writes the Planning Board has not approved this letter.

Williams Grads Reminded of Community that Got Them to Graduation

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
05:14PM / Sunday, June 02, 2024

The graduates heard from two speakers — Phi Betta Kappa speaker Milo Chang and class speaker Jahnavi Nayar Kirtane. The keynote speaker, Lonnie Bunch, the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, was unable to attend and recorded his speech for playback. See more photos here.

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Williams College said goodbye Sunday to its graduating seniors.

 

And a representative of the class of 2024 took the time to say goodbye to everyone in the community who made students' journey possible.

 

Milo Chang, the Phi Beta Kappa speaker for the class and one of two students to speak at Sunday's 235th commencement exercises, explained that the term "Williams community" applies to more than those who get to list the school on their resumes.

 

"It includes everyone who has shaped our experiences here, from loved ones back home to the dedicated staff members who make campus their second home," Chang told his classmates. "During my time at Williams, we've seen this community step up in remarkable ways to support us."

 

Chang talked about the faculty and staff who gave their time to operate the COVID-19 testing centers and who greeted students before they could take their first classroom tests in the fall of 2020, and the dining services personnel who kept the students fed and somehow understood their orders through the masks everyone was wearing when this class arrived on campus.

 

And he shared a personal story that brought the message home.

 

"We often underestimate the power of community until we experience a taste of its absence," Chang said. "I remember staying on campus after our first Thanksgiving at Williams, after most students went home to finish the semester remotely. I remember the long hours sitting in empty common rooms. I remember the days you could walk through campus without seeing another student.