NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The City Council is expected to vote on a zoning ordinance change on Tuesday that will affect a large swath of land on both sides of the Hoosic River in Blackinton. 

 

The landowner's petition, by the developers of The Beyond Place LLC, would convert two industrial zones and one residential zone to align with an existing commercial (CC-1) zone. The properties have been purchased over the last few years to become part of the Tourists motel complex. 

 

The Planning Board recommended the zoning change after a joint public hearing with the City Council on July 9. 

 

Principal Benjamin Svenson, project manager Eric Kerns, and the petitioner's attorney, F. Sydney Smithers of Cain Hibbard & Myers, appeared before the joint hearing to answer questions. Smithers said the request was to ensure "certainty, consistency and predictability" as the once humble motor court has expanded to include plans for a restaurant and farm, trails, outdoor activities and the yet-to-be-determined future of the Blackinton Mill. 

 

Svenson and his partners purchased the former Redwood Motel on State Road in 2015 with the intention of rebuilding the deteriorating motor court into a boutique motel along what is being called the "Cultural Corridor" between North Adams and Williamstown. That modest proposal has grown by leaps and bounds over the past three years to comprise some 18 properties on both sides of the Hoosic River — including the mill and the city's former wastewater treatment plant property.

 

The developers say the consolidation of all these properties under one commercial zone, including a piece of land owned by the state's Division of Wildlife and Fisheries, will provide the consistency to pursue the development of an envisioned spa-type resort while also maintaining the character of a once flourishing village with its own commercial core. 

 

Those councilors in attendance at the July 9 hearing raised no significant objections and the planners moved to recommend the zoning change 8-1. 

 

The parcels affected are 915 State Road, 861 State Road, Rear Massachusetts Avenue (former sewer plant), 1470 Massachusetts Avenue, 1428 Massachusetts Avenue, 1288 Massachusetts Avenue, off Massachusetts Avenue, Map 96 / Lot 1 & 1A, Ashton Avenue Map 9O /Lot 15, off Ashton Avenue Map 95 Lot 44.

 

The council will also take up a request from Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts that has been recommended by the Traffic Commission to create a no-parking zone by the college's Facilities Building on the west side of Ashland Street. 

 

MCLA Police Chief Daniel Colonno wrote to ask that signs be located in front of the building at 341 Ashland and the adjacent commuter lot because of visibility issues when exiting onto Ashland. 

 

"The issue is that when people are pulling out of these two driveways, their view is obstructed by parked cars making it difficult for drivers to see southbound traffic (one of our staff members was involved in a personal injury auto accident last semester pulling out onto Ashland St. and a contributing factor of the accident was that her view was obstructed by parked cars north of the driveway)," he wrote in a communique last September.

 

Traffic Commission Chairwoman Mary Ann King wrote to the council that she had attempted to pull out of the three college driveways on that stretch and "had to just about pull out into traffice before I could see cars approaching."

 

King also found that there was a two-hour parking zone still in effect in the Facilities Building area that the commission first voted to remove. The east side of the street (in front of the college's town houses) is a no-parking zone; just north of the commuter lot, the parking is 15 minutes by the pizza parlor and coffeehouse.

 

The commission approved a "No Parking Zone" on the west side from the Boston and Maine Bridge abutment 368 feet north. "This would still allow for some on-street parking as well as parking in the parking lot," King wrote. 

 

Also on the agenda are a host of permissions for more hanging signs on Eagle Street. The signage is part of the NAMAzing Eagle Street Initiative that is providing new hanging signs for businesses on Eagle. The signs have been approved by the Planning Board but because they will hang out over a public way, the council has to approve the permits with proof of liability insurance. 

 

The signs will hang from King Kut's Salon, Mia's Exchange, Jack's Hot Dog Stand, Klipper Kingz, Adams Community Bank, Birdsong Gallery, and Galen Gallery.

 

The council will also be asked to approve the appointment of two new members of the Public Arts Commission, Bryan Sapienza and Derek Parker. Sapienza will complete the unexpired term of Nancy Ziter ending on May 1, 2019; Parker, who is replacing Erica Manville, will have a term to expire May 1, 2023.