BRPC Seeks Input On Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy

11:00AM / Wednesday, October 19, 2022Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (BRPC) is seeking public comment on a draft Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) for Berkshire County, which will be in effect from 2023 through 2027.

The CEDS is a coordinated regional planning process that documents current economic conditions, identifies priority economic development projects, and sets goals and strategies for the upcoming 5-year period. Two previous CEDS have been published for Berkshire County, in 2011 and 2017. The 2023 edition will include an expanded Resiliency Planning chapter, as well as an overview of COVID-19 impacts on unemployment rates and labor force statistics.

The Berkshire County CEDS is developed by BRPC staff in partnership with a regional CEDS committee, made up of representatives from local government, priority industries, non-profits, and regional agencies involved with economic development. After the public comment period completes on November 12th, 2022, and the CEDS document is endorsed by the BRPC Commission, it will be submitted to the US Economic Development Administration for approval. Implementation occurs over the course of the next five years, with annual progress reports filed each year.

The draft document can be found on BRPC’s website at berkshireplanning.org/initiatives/berkshire-comprehensive-economic-development-strategy-ceds/ or at bit.ly/BerkshireCEDS, along with more information about the initiative and copies of former CEDS documents and annual reports.

The PDF document includes links to online forms for members of the public to suggest additions to the Action Plan and Resiliency Recommendations included in the draft. General comments can be emailed to BRPC Economic Development Program Manager, Laura Brennan, at lbrennan@berkshireplanning.org, with the subject line "CEDS draft."

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Pittsfield Looks at 'Form-Based' Code for West Side Zoning

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
12:15PM / Wednesday, February 25, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Department of Community Development has been working on a zoning proposal that aims to encourage small businesses and lively, characteristic activity in the West Side.

City Planner Kevin Rayner has appeared before the Community Development Board and the Zoning Board of Appeals to provide updates on the process.

"I'm really trying to bring business back into the West Side with a soft touch," he told the ZBA in January.

"So we don't want those big, big businesses going in there. We want to encourage the small family businesses to come back, because there's a lot of storefronts in the Westside that are boarded up, and you can't use it as a store anymore because it's all zoned RM out there."

This is done by limiting the size, location, or intensity of business use, and allowing accessory commercial units and "micro businesses" on the site of people's homes. The proposal also adds new street types that support these possibilities.

"It's something that a small family business is going to see an incentive to invest in," Rayner said.

"That's the intent."

The city planner has been discussing this proposal with the Community Development Board for about six months, and as the general permitting authority for properties, he wanted the ZBA in the conversation as well.

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