Letter: Williamstown Shouldn't Rush Zoning Changes

Letter to the Editor01:00PM / Wednesday, February 09, 2022Print Story | Email Story

To the Editor:

To Members of the Select Board and the Planning Board of Williamstown,

I have been a resident of Williamstown since 1971 and the owner of residential property in town. I am concerned about the process going through your committees to consider zoning changes in this town.

The process is rushing to put these changes in the next warrant articles, to be voted on in the next town meeting. This is unfair to town residents, who need more time to learn about and consider these proposed changes — few residents are even aware of their existence.

Most importantly, the town has hired a consultant for a new comprehensive plan for the town and Berkshire Regional Planning Commission is in the process of conducting a housing needs assessment for Berkshire County. Until these two reports have been completed, it makes no sense to ask us to vote on changes in zoning ordinances.

Thank you for your vigilance in ensuring that we voters get all the information and consultation we need to vote responsibly on proposed zoning changes in Williamstown.

Sincerely,

Tela Zasloff
Williamstown, Mass.

Tags: zoning,

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North County Education Study Preparing to Survey Communities

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
11:30AM / Wednesday, September 02, 2026

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The North Berkshire Educational Sustainability Study is looking for input from residents about what is working — and what is not — in the four districts participating in the study.

At its August meeting, the Steering Committee reviewed questions in an online survey that consultants from Berkshire Educational Resources K12 hope to make live before the end of the month.

The survey, which will take about eight to 10 minutes to complete, includes multiple choice questions about residents' experiences with and impressions of the region's public schools with the opportunity to give open-ended responses.

Data collected will help BERK12, the consultant, drive a yearlong conversation with stakeholders and develop recommendations to be included in a final report that will be issued in June.

BERK12's Brendan Sheran, who took the lead on developing the survey, pointed to one example of how survey results can inform the conversations that will feed into that report.

"To what extent do you agree or disagree with statements about how the schools prepare students for the next step," Sheran said, explaining that those preparations include academic and social readiness. "If we find people are strongly agreeing the schools are strongly preparing students for the next step, we can ask in focus groups about what the school is doing that does this."

Sheran and BERK12's project director, Jake Eberwein, also talked about how the consultant used a similar survey in a sustainability study for the Mohawk Trail and Hawlemont school districts and the eight Franklin County towns they cover.

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