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Pittsfield Subcommittee OKs Draft Chicken Ordinance

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
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Councilor at Large Karen Kalinowsky speaks in favor of the ordinance change for chickens. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city is closer to having an affordable fee for chicken keeping.

On Monday, the Ordinances and Rules subcommittee supported a drafted ordinance that brings the cost of keeping six chickens from more than $500 to $25. 

The ordinance takes the process out of the Zoning Board of Appeals purview and requires a license similar to that of a dog.

"We've really come a long way from having to have a cost of around $500 to get chickens where this will bring it to a more equitable opportunity for anyone in the City of Pittsfield who meets the setback guidelines," Councilor at Large Peter White said.

"And those setback guidelines will be very similar to what would have been approved, to begin with, in the permit that is currently in place right now."

The Health Department’s guidelines stipulate that coops and enclosures must be located a minimum of 20 feet from any habitable building, 40 feet from any habitable building on an adjoining lot, 40 feet from any well heads or open bodies of water, and 10 feet from property lines.



If a complaint is received, it will be investigated by the Board of Health or its agent.

There was a half-acre requirement in the original draft ordinance that was removed because of pushback.

For months, Councilor at Large Karen Kalinowsky and resident Melissa Corbett have been trying to remove the permit from the ZBA due to cost.

"We’ve reached a hill and we’re trying to go down," Kalinowsky said to her colleagues. "I hope you guys will support this, make it happen so that all people if they chose to have chickens, can afford to."

The Board of Health said "no" to taking on the permitting last month, as it did not see pricing as a valid reason to change the granting authority. Soon after, the subcommittee supported the change.

City Solicitor Stephen Pagnotta said he has drafted an amended zoning ordinance to the Department of Community Development, as the existing ordinance requires a special permit for chickens.


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Dalton Man Accused of Kidnapping, Shooting Pittsfield Man

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A Dalton man was arrested on Thursday evening after allegedly kidnapping and shooting another man.

Nicholas Lighten, 35, was arraigned in Central Berkshire District Court on Friday on multiple charges including kidnapping with a firearm and armed assault with intent to murder. He was booked in Dalton around 11:45 p.m. the previous night.

There was heavy police presence Thursday night in the area of Lighten's East Housatonic Street home before his arrest.

Shortly before 7 p.m., Dalton dispatch received a call from the Pittsfield Police Department requesting that an officer respond to Berkshire Medical Center. Adrian Mclaughlin of Pittsfield claimed that he was shot in the leg by Lighten after an altercation at the defendants home. Mclaughlin drove himself to the hospital and was treated and released with non-life-threatening injuries. 

"We were told that Lighten told Adrian to go down to his basement, where he told Adrian to get down on his knees and pulled out a chain," the police report reads.

"We were told that throughout the struggle with Lighten, Adrian recalls three gunshots."

Dalton PD was advised that Pittsfield had swabbed Mclaughlin for DNA because he reported biting Lighten. A bite mark was later found on Lighten's shoulder. 

Later that night, the victim reportedly was "certain, very certain" that Lighten was his assailant when shown a photo array at the hospital.

According to Dalton Police, an officer was stationed near Lighten's house in an unmarked vehicle and instructed to call over the radio if he left the residence. The Berkshire County Special Response Team was also contacted.

Lighten was under surveillance at his home from about 7:50 p.m. to about 8:40 p.m. when he left the property in a vehicle with Massachusetts plates. Another officer initiated a high-risk motor vehicle stop with the sergeant and response team just past Mill Street on West Housatonic Street, police said, and traffic was stopped on both sides of the road.

Lighten and a passenger were removed from the vehicle and detained. Police reported finding items including a brass knuckle knife, three shell casings wrapped in a rubber glove, and a pair of rubber gloves on him.

The response team entered Lighten's home at 43 East Housatonic before 9:30 p.m. for a protective sweep and cleared the residence before 9:50 p.m., police said. The residence was secured for crime scene investigators.

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