ADAMS, Mass. — Adams is moving to update its zoning maps for the first time in nearly 50 years.
The Planning Board got an update at a Monday workshop on the proposed zoning boundaries and how an information session on the new zoning went last week.
"You've done a really good job with this," said board member Michael Mach. You put a lot of work into this and it's about time because we haven't done any zoning in the town since, what, the '70s?"
Kevin Towle, senior planner in the Community Development Office, said more than 100 letters were sent out to those whose properties would be affected by the zoning changes but only about a dozen people attended the information session.
"At the meeting there, there were some questions from the public and there some a couple of concerns in terms of procedural aspects but nothing as far as content," he said.
Towle said he had a couple phone calls from property owners but they were questions that could be answered rather than any overreaching issues.
The town has worked to align zoning with current uses and to conform with property boundaries to eliminate single parcels split into zones.
"Particularly with the business zones, that's been an issue with where the front is in business and the rear is in residential," Towle said. "Businesses are wanting to expand but because they're different use categories, they can't."
One property had been of interest at last week's meeting, he said: Al's Service Center at the corner of Commercial and Prospect.
The site, which had been considered for a Cumberland Farms, is being shifted into a Business 2 zone from residential.
"We've gone back and effectively gotten back to the 1800s and found that property was in business use all the way back then," Towle said. "So we believe that's what it was originally so we are trying to correct that in this process."
Lisa Gazaille said she'd been involved in an land surveying error in the past that had caused issues. She asked if the new zoning map would open up to the town to any similar concerns.
"This makes it easier to determine boundaries," responded Towle.
On the old maps, the zoning was based on distance from the road, which caused a lot of the split zones. They also were hand drawn so thicker lines obscured and sometimes covered parcels and made it difficult to determine the boundaries of split zones.
Gazaille asked if the zoning changes would have any affect on property values. Towle said that was not his area of expertise but he thought that a residential property shifted to a business zone would probably be more valuable it were to sell.
What it wouldn't do is affect the tax rates because properties are taxed on their use, not the zone they're in. So a residential home in a business zone would still be taxed as residential and a business existing in a residential zone would still pay the commercial rate.
The Planning Board is anticipating a public hearing on the zoning on Monday, March 16. After that, it would go to a special town meeting or the annual town meeting for approval.
Mach said clarifying the zoning would be a good thing for the town.
"I do see businesses starting to sprout and people starting to come into town," said Mach. "There's people coming into town, they're sprinkling in from North Adams."
Mach and Gazaille were the only planners able to the attend the meeting, so without a quorum present the only application before the board — a site plan for a wholesale bakery — was postponed to the next meeting.
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Adams Welcomes New Officer; Appoints Housing Authority Board Member
By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
Officer Cole Desroches recently graduated from the Police Academy.
ADAMS, Mass. — The Selectmen welcomed the newest member of the Adams Police Department, Officer Cole Desroches, on Wednesday evening.
Desroches graduated from the Police Academy on March 22 in the top tier in his class. He's currently in the field training program and assigned to Sgt. Curtis Crane. He attended Hoosac Valley High School and Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.
"He's going to serve and protect the town of Adams very well," said Crane, who with Sgts. Matthew Wright and Gregory Onorato stepped in to introduce the new officer while Chief R. Scott Kelley was on vacation.
"We don't often get an opportunity to kind of talk about, frankly, some of the positive things that are happening in town and one of the many things that I feel are positive with are the Adams Police Department," said Town Administrator Jay Green. "We are right now at full staff. We have a full complement of officers. We have a chief who just resigned a three-year contract. ... We have four very capable sergeants (including Donna Malloy)."
The force consists of the chief, the four sergeants, a full-time detective and 11 patrol officers. It also has a new position in Cpl. Joshua Baker who is responsible for training and keeping staff equipped.
"We're on the cutting edge of ensuring that we have proper training in a very changing environment with law enforcement," continued Green. "And we have a nice complement of officers and we have a well-respected detective who handles some very complicated cases."
He called out the half-dozen officers who attended the meeting for the work they're doing as well as the K9 unit.
Desroches graduated from the Police Academy on March 22 in the top tier in his class. He's currently in the field training program and assigned to Sgt. Curtis Crane.
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The Selectmen on Wednesday night voted to award the bid to Mackin Construction Co. Inc. of Greenfield, which plans to invest $11 million to build out 20 or more one- and two-bedroom apartments in the three-story classroom wing that parallels Columbia Street.
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The Selectmen two weeks ago had requested the utility appear before the board after receiving numerous complaints over flickering lights, including in Town Hall.
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