Letter: Williamstown Shouldn't Rush Zoning Changes

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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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Williamstown Housing Trust Gets Update on Production Plan

By Stephen Dravis
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – The board of the town’s Affordable Housing Trust Tuesday took a look at some of the data that will form the basis of a Housing Production Plan being developed for the body by the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission.
 
"This is the most recent and updated U.S. Census data as well as [Massachusetts] Department of Revenue data related to housing," BRPC’s Brett Roberts told the board. "I’m not going to ask you to digest it all in the next 15 minutes. I want you to take it home, mark it up with your red pencils. There are going to be format changes. There are going to be language changes. All of that.
 
"But what I want you to look at is really the data itself. What strikes you as something important to pull you? What are some things you want to highlight?"
 
Roberts told the trustees that the most interesting part to him was the data detailing Williamstown’s affordability gap.
 
He pointed out that the median household income in town is $108,500, at which the household could afford a home that costs about $348,000.
 
"Then we looked at what is actually on the market," Roberts said. "In May 2026, the average sales price of a single-family home [in Williamstown] was $494,704. The gap between what is in the world and what your median household income can afford, we call the affordability gap.
 
"We talk about how expensive homes are. This gives you a number to point to as, ‘This is what the gap is.’ "
 
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