Letter: Cannabis Cultivation in Williamstown

To the Editor:

Williamstown voters will soon be making decisions about cannabis cultivation. After a year of consultation, public forum, debate, site visits and research the Planning Board is proposing changes to the current bylaws that would restrict where and how cannabis can be grown.

The proposed bylaw:

- increases the setback from property lines to 150 ft; today it is 25 ft.
- stipulates a minimum setback from a neighboring residence of 500 ft; today there is none.
- requires fencing to be screened with vegetation or hidden behind topography; today no screening is required.
- requires that all activity (such as tool sheds and storage barns) associated with growing cannabis be inside the fence, and the fence be at least 150 ft from the property line; today no requirement exists.
- disallows large indoor warehouse facilities to be constructed in rural Williamstown; today they could be built.
- requires 25 percent on-site renewable energy and a waste management plan for resource intensive indoor facilities; today no such requirements exist.

The proposal does not change the size of the allowable canopy for a licensee (2.3 acres), but it does add a restriction that a landowner can’t exceed that maximum by leasing to multiple licensees on a single property.
In short, the proposed bylaw doesn’t lessen current restrictions. It increases protections to residences yet provides sufficient economic opportunity for farmers. It's a balanced approach.
If you would like to support farmers and protect farmland, but you want to minimize the potential impacts of cannabis cultivation, vote yes.

For more information, visit the Town of Williamstown website or contact the Planning Board at planningboard@williamstownma.gov.

Stephanie Boyd
Boyd is chair of the Williamstown Planning Board.

Williamstown Recognizes Local Farmer, Library Director at Town Meeting

By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff
09:35AM / Thursday, May 21, 2026

Win Chenail has had a farm stand at his Luce Road dairy farm since 1965. The Chenails have been farming in Williamstown since 1916. Right, Select Board Chair Stephanie Boyd thanks board members whose terms were up this year. 

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — For more than 60 years, Winthrop F. Chenail has been selling his bountiful crops to residents of Williamstown and beyond. 

 

"The family dairy farm at the top of Luce Road has been an anchor farm in our community since 1916," said Elisabeth Goodman. "His farm stand has been operating since 1965 and that's where we get our sweet corn, homegrown tomatoes, cucumbers, broccoli, cabbage, peppers, summer squash flowers, and pumpkins that he and his grandson Nick Chenail grow as a side business to the family dairy farm."

 

Win Chenail's integrity, excellence, and dedication of service to the citizens of Williamstown was recognized at the annual town meeting on Tuesday with the 11th annual Scarborough Solomon Flint Community Service Award.

 

"At age 90, Win has not slowed down much," Goodman said. "I never did get to speak to him on the phone when notifying him about this award, as his wife told me he was busy in the greenhouse repotting 2,000 tomato plants."

 

Five generations have worked the Mount Williams Dairy Farm that Chenail's grandparents purchased, and Chenail's also been a caretaker of 130 acres of town land at the Spruces and Burbank properties. 

 

"The Chenail family has been managing the land since the 1950s keeping the fields green, lush, and productive with sustainable management practices," she said. "They fertilize it with manure from the dairy farm and lime as needed. With such careful, long-term stewardship of the soil, the land has continued to be fertile and productive for half a century under his fare."

 

Chenail thanked his family and fellow farmers for contributing to the welfare of the community and said it had been a privilege to keep the town-owned fields in farming.