Lanesborough OKs Bylaw For Aerial Adventure Parks

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
09:29PM / Tuesday, February 12, 2013Print Story | Email Story

The special town meeting saw about 10 voters, other than the Selectmen and Planning Board, and took only 18 minutes.

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — With a unanimous vote at town meeting, the zoning is in place for an aerial adventure park on Brodie Mountain Road and developers are already hoping to start construction in the summer.

Feronia Forests LLC, formerly Feronia Holdings, has been working with the town for nearly a year to bring in an adventure park. However, zoning bylaws prohibited them from opening on Brodie Mountain Road so the town crafted new bylaws to allow the company to move forward.

Those bylaws were approved at a special town meeting Tuesday.

The special town meeting was paid for by Feronia and the new bylaw is supported by the Board of Selectmen.

The bylaw allows any aerial adventure park to open in the limited business zone with a special permit. The law does require a minimum lot size of 10 acres and that 75 percent of the aerial elements be attached to natural features, not to utility poles or other manmade structures.

The developers are set to move forward with the design phase while they wait until for the attorney general's office to approve the new zoning, which could take up to 90 days, and then go through local permitting. They hope to start building in the summer and open for the fall.

Jonathan Sabin, who represents Feronia, said the group could "realistically" receive a special permit to build and open the park in July as long as there are no hitches.

Feronia is partnering with East Chatham, N.Y.-based Tree-Mendous Parks, which constructed a safari park at the San Diego Zoo, to build what they call a "social and economically friendly" park. Tree-Mendous owner Gerhard Komenda said the attractions will be attached to existing trees without drilling and that trucks will not be driven onto the course to prevent tree damage. The platforms will be made from native woods, he said.

"We will need about four months to build," Komenda said, adding that the construction will take longer because the workers will hike to the site.

Komenda will also be responsible in training the employees before the opening. He hopes the park can eventually be used for nature walks or teaching children how to climb.

"Ours is more of an environmental, educational thing. Eventually we want to develop this into a place where other activities can take place," he said.

Feronia owner Paolo Cugnasca said the full plan includes an office, gift shop and small parking lot at the base; customers will hike up a trail to reach the park itself.

In other business, voters approved regulating "secondhand dealers and pawnbrokers." The regulations were put forth by the Police Department and forces secondhand dealers — such as places that buy jewelry — to photocopy the seller's identification and the merchandise as well as hold the items in house for 15 days.

"If they don't follow the regulations, they would have to pay the fines," Police Chief Mark Bashera said in explaining the law.

Bashera said police have caught thieves "countless" times by looking at pawnbrokers' records. However, there are some who do not keep very good records and sometimes the items are shipped out of state and melted in just a few days after the sale. This law will now allow police to track stolen items easier.

Voters also approved increasing the fee to $30 for every demand letter the tax collector writes. Demand letters are written when taxes are not paid on time and this move will cover the costs of those efforts. Town Administrator Paul Sieloff said that the increase could translate to about $8,000 per year in revenue to the town's budget as well as encourage taxpayers to pay on time.

Editor's Note: The aerial park is being built near the wind farm access road off Brodie Mountain Road in Lanesborough. There were stories reported in other media about a week after this meeting that used illustrations implying the old Brodie Ski Area was the site of the new park. That is incorrect. The ski area is in New Ashford.

Tags: adventure park, ropes course, special town meeting, zoning,

iBerkshires.com Text Ads

rk MILES Blding Materials

Are You Ready to Update Your Home? Start With rk MILES. 4 Locations (800)670-7433

www.rkmiles.com

Save & Earn with Greylock

3.30% APY 6-month certificate. Click to learn more! Insured by NCUA.

www.greylock.org

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Crane Park's Mini-Pitch is Open for Fun

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
05:18AM / Wednesday, October 21, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — City officials celebrated the opening of the new Crane Parks mini-pitch on Tuesday.

Players from several local soccer programs, community leaders, and project partners gathered to kick the ceremonial first pitch into the goal on the new facility.

Back in May, the Parks Commission endorsed a project to place a mini-pitch over the aging, cracked concrete surface of Crane Park's former rink. A mini-pitch is a compact, modular field typically used for soccer, and it can also accommodate inline skates.

"The mini-pitch system will create a space that encourages physical activity and welcomes play through teamwork. The space will serve as a location for the community to gather for outdoor fun and recreation for many years ahead. They'll be able to put their cell phones down for a few minutes and actually engage in some great outdoor entertainment," Mayor Peter Marchetti said.

The project was funded entirely by grants. In June, the City Council accepted the gift of the mini-pitch facility, valued at over $100,000, and $10,000 from the Mill Town Foundation to ready the site.

The facility has a galvanized steel border with built-in goals and a rubber plastic surface that is clicked together. Cleats are not allowed on the surface, but sneakers and other sports shoes are.

The mini-pitch system came with a light tower and two LED lamps, but Crane Park does not have power, so it won't be illuminated. That could change in the future, officials said.

The pitch is open for the community every day, but Parks, Open Space, and Natural Resources Manager James McGrath reminded users to be mindful as they play as well as to respect the pitch and the neighborhood it resides in.

McGrath said the idea grew out of conversations with Andy Wrba, program director for the Mill Town Foundation.

"There's been a deep, deep soccer community in Pittsfield and throughout the Berkshires for a long time. I've seen it as a multi-generational way for communities to connect and pass down lessons and connect families and everyone. And a big part of that has been the West State Soccer League," Wrba said.

He said the goal is to keep the space active and encourage outdoor recreation and youth engagement.

McGrath said that with the partnership from Mill Town and the city's park commission they were able to bring the pitch to the finish line.

"It's a testament to our ability to bring new and unique facilities into our city that accommodate youth sports. And it really, at the end of the day, is about promotion of soccer. And we are just so pleased that our partners all came together and that we were able to get this mini-pitch completed," McGrath said.

Other contributors as well were the U.S. Soccer Foundation, who provided the mini-pitch system, surface materials, and installation assistance at no cost to the city, as well as Massachusetts Youth Soccer who partnered with Pittsfield to bring the system to the city.

"All these contributions made this project possible, and highlights how our community continues through public and private partnerships to provide new facilities and amenities for all to enjoy," Marchetti said.

View Full Story