It is the role of the Planning Board to envision and plan for our town's future. That means they inevitably must grapple with questions of change: proposing adjustments to zoning bylaws to facilitate goals we want, while avoiding those harmful to us. It almost goes without saying that when the Planning Board is doing its job, residents will view it with a fearful eye — if for no other reason than it could bring change. But Williamstown needs change. In particular, we need to diversify our housing options. Not doing so effectively keeps out younger and older people of all kinds who struggle to find housing in our town.
This year, the Planning Board made every effort to invite the community into its discussions. The board received and grappled with a healthy diversity of opinion, and it has ultimately reached a majority consensus on a path forward, one that was unanimously supported by the Select Board. The present bylaw amendments are modest, commonsense proposals that represent the smallest impactful change voters seem likely to embrace at this time.
Article 32 simplifies the regulations regarding two-family housing, giving property owners the right to divide an existing single-family house without restriction. Current laws limit the size of the second unit to 900 square feet. Article 33 revisits the town's bylaw on accessory dwelling units (aka "in-law cottages"), making it possible for property owners to add a small housing unit in an existing or new structure, such as a garage or barn, or to build a new 900 square-foot dwelling unit by right, if their property conforms with town zoning.
To be fair to all property owners, the Zoning Board of Appeals will assess whether non-conforming lots can be appropriate locations for ADUs. The idea of further limiting Article 33 by requiring all homeowners (not just those whose lots are not in conformity) to appear before the Zoning Board will reduce the number of ADUs built and pointlessly pit neighbor against neighbor in the special permit process. The ZBA should not be put in the position of denying a special permit merely because neighbors have objections.
I urge you to support Articles 32 and 33 in the town warrant without any further amendments during town meeting. Let's move forward to accommodate careful growth for Williamstown's future.
Anne O'Connor Williamstown, Mass.
O'Connor is currently serving as chair of the Select Board and writes that this letter reflects her personal viewpoint.
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Mount Greylock Announces Fourth Quarter Honor Roll
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Mount Greylock Regional School has announced its honor rolls for the fourth quarter of the 2018-19 school year.
Students are placed on the honor roll when their quarterly letter grades average a B or better, and when the student receives no grade lower than a B- in all graded classes. The student must be carrying a minimum of four graded courses to be eligible.
Grade 12
Maddison Albert, Hallie Anderson, Mitchell Bath, Sage Bohl, Casey Bouchard, Daniel Buell, Taylor Callahan, Sonya Carrizales, Giovanni Cavalli, Joshua Cheung, Josephine Dalsin, Autumn Delorey, Elizabeth Dudley, John Ellingwood, David Falk, Katrina Hotaling, Alison Howard, Lauren Jacobbe, Sophie Jones, Cole Kuster, Cameron Macuch, Karen MagnusdottirMcComish, Sean Malloy, Michael, Maruk, Brook Masse, Brennan McGowan, Grace Miller, Jakin Miller, Isabella Nicastro, Dominic Paris, Avery Powers, Cameron Sabin, Theodore Sandstrom, Cassidy Shea, Evan Sheridan, Josef Soza-Foias, Colette Stapp, Andrew Sutter, Luke Swann, Samantha Trybus, Katherine Wilson
Grade 11
Gabriella Alvarez, Madeline Art, Miriam Bakija, Julia Butler, Barry Chhuon, Taylor Cornell, Julia Donati, Sarah Egan, Brandon Fahlenkamp, Alexander Falk, Cole Filson, Toby Foehl, Lucas Forman, Evelyn Fuls, Tarryn Gaherty, Brandi Gill, Logan Gould, James Hetherington, Julia Jammalo, Mitchell Jezouit, Joseph Jones, Jonah Kelly-Whitney, Saville Keyes, Cassidy Kiernan, Amelia Murphy, Brooke Phelps, Samantha Pierce, Charlotte Rauscher, Grace Sanchez, Ciera Schwarzer, Anna Scott, Malcolm Skinner, Brayden Smith, Emanuel Soza-Foias, Owen Tucker-Smith, Xavier Vilaubi, Anna Welch, Finnian Welch, Spencer Zheng
Grade 10
Delaney Babcock, Isabel Beauchamp, Aurora Bullett, Talia Cappadona, Croft Carter, Priya D'Souza, Briana Dowling, Nicholas Duda, Elizabeth Dupras, Laura Dupuis, William Ellingwood, Michael Faulkner, Amanda Filiault, Gabriel Gerry, Jack Gitterman, Claire Hall, Emma Hayward, Carolyn Jones, Isabella Kirby, Isabelle Leonard, Lily Lesieur, Oscar Low, Taylor Mason, Catherine McAllister, Col McDermott, Charles McWeeny, Clarissa McWeeny, Victoria Melkonyan, Julius Munemo, Erin O'Keefe, Emma Paul, Leah Petricca, Benjamin Prescott, Elizabeth Ramos, Jordan Rosier, Leo Rossitter, Abigail Rudin, Charlotte Sanford, Hazel Scullin, Brandon Sills, John Skavlem, Matthew Sorrell, William Starenko, Hayden Steadwell-Brundige, Solomon Sutter, Nathan Taveras, Kyle Trottier, Mia VanDeurzen, Gina Wang, Malcolm Waynick, Ruth Weaver, Jacqueline Wells, Elizabeth Westerdahl, Fiona Williams, Alexander Wilson, Olivia Winters
Grade Nine
Zoe Armet, Henry Art, Alexander Axt, Adriel Benko, Sophia Brady-Owen, Edward Brannan, William Broadwell, Jillian Bump, Jack Catelotti, Cayden Conry, Takiera Darrow, Josephine Dechaine, Maisie Dufour, Diego Galvez, Samantha Garzone, Kathryn Gentry, Jonah Hane, Rina Hatakeyama, Luca Hirsch, Ava Howard, Simon Klompus, Tate Kuster, Juliann Lawson, Madison Machaffie, Thomas Martin, Karissa McInerney, Eleanor McPartland, Sophia Mele, Troy Michalak, Derek Paris, Tej Patel, Krishan Rai, Tashi Rai, Sarah Reynolds, Jamie Rhinemiller, Lily Rorke, Emma Sandstrom, Anna Schoorlemmer, Piper Schulman, Alayna Schwarzer, Mackenzie Sheehy, Ava Simon, Josephine Smith, Christian Sullivan, Katherine Swann, Camden Taylor, Alexis Toomey, Rona Wang, Anthony Welch, Malina Woodbury
Grade Eight
Ainsley Abel, Arsil Ahmed, Annabelle Art, Matilda Asch, Elizabeth Bertolino, Matthew Bertolino, Henrik Bingemann, Erika Bolton, Marguerite Brody, Elena Caplinger, Matteo Chang, Hannah Chase, Chase Doyle, Antoinette Dykes, Cailean Fippinger, Emma Gilooly, Emma Gray, Arthur Greenfield, Dylen Harrison, Eamon Hetherington, Lucy Igoe, Lily Jayko, Seth Lillie, Clarissa Louis, Elliot Louis, Isabella Mangano, Emma Mathews, Patrick McConnell, Emma Newberry, Liam O’Keefe, Zenalyssa Packer, Beatrice Pedroni, Christiane Rech, Juliet Robinson, Brodi Rosier, Ernani Rosse, Joshua Rudin, Andres Sanchez, Foster Savitsky, Drew Scanlon, Krish Sharma, Noah Shin, Jennah Simpson, Kiersten Simpson, Jane Skavlem, Euphemia Skinner, Elizabeth Smith, Jacob Stokes, Molly Sullivan, Rose Sutter, Kamryn Sweet, Samuel Tucker-Smith, Nathaniel Verter, Haley Williams, Elissa Wong
Grade Seven
Ava Anagnos, Lex Anagnos, Thomas Art, Riley Babcock, Phoebe Barnes, Jude Barzousky, Isabella Belleau, Jacqueline Brannan, Emma Brennan, Larissa Broadwell, Kaylie Bryan, Lily Catelotti, Sylvie Clowes, Lila Cohen-McFall, Julia DeChaine, Benjamin Dingman, Noelle Dravis, Emily Dupuis, Abaigael Fuls, Isabella Garivaltis, Beatrice Garvey, Annabelle Gitterman, Anabel Gonzales, Emma Kate Hane, Akira Harris, Alexa Heidel, Matilde Henderson, Phoebe Hughes, Tyler Kloblensky Hynes-Drumm, Jason Jaros, Talia Kapiloff, Erin Keating, Ryan Keating, Jenner Kittle, Luka Lash-St. John, Svea Lawson, Cedric Lemaire, Caleb Low, Cecilia Malone, Grace Malone, Judge Martin, Lily McDermott, Quinn McDermott, Lucy McWeeny, Emily Mole, John Morales, George Munemo, Dylan Nevarez, Maggie Nichols, Emily Ouellette, Gianna Pesce, Andrew Petropulos, Owen Petropulos, Alexa Politis, Gabriella Quagliano, Quinlan Repetto, Declan Rogers, Celina Savage, Mason Sayers, Iris Semon Pike, Jasmine Skorupski, Katelin Smith, Parker Smith, Oliver Swabey, Jamie Sweren, Emma Swoap, Celia Szczepaniak, Macy Tidmarsh, John Trinder, Serafina Velazquez, Mitchell Waynick, Vincent Welch, Marcus Whalen-Loux, Gavin Whaley, Grace Winters.
Sue Kirby found her own ways to get the most out of her pupils over more than four decades as an educator in the Williamstown public schools. click for more
The Mount Greylock School Committee and select boards from Williamstown and Lanesborough will have at least six candidates to choose from to fill a vacant seat on the School Committee. click for more
And the "needs improvement" classification itself was not to be unexpected for someone who was hired as a full-time superintendent after a spring 2018 vote of the committee.
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