Spruces Court Case Continued While Settlement Is Sought

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
03:00AM / Wednesday, January 18, 2012Print Story | Email Story

The park was built in a floodplain. During Hurricane Irene, the overflowing river damaged the infrastructure so badly that the entire park was ruled uninhabitable.

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The court case between the owners of the Spruces Mobile Home Park, the town and the state attorney general has been continued again as the parties seek a settlement.

The case that will help define each party's role and the future of the park after it was flooded during Hurricane Irene — leaving nearly 300 people homeless — was originally scheduled for Dec. 6, 2011. It was then pushed back to Dec. 13, and later delayed until Jan. 17.

According to court documents on Jan. 4, which are available below, the parties agreed to again delay the hearing because they are still negotiating a settlement and the property is still being affected by the hurricane's fallout.

Park owners Morgan Management listed eight issues that it hoped to settle in court. Those include putting a halt on infrastructure work until the park's future is known, giving residents 30 days to state their intentions on residences and to be allowed to consolidate the park. The company hopes to force out residents who are living there illegally and divvy up the responsibilities of all parties.

The retirement community's future is still in flux with homes slowly being reoccupied. However, the end of the road is near, according to town officials, and it looks like only about a third of the mobile homes will be restored.

As of Friday, 67 of the condemned homes were removed, 22 others received demolition permits and 61 homes are reoccupied. Three additional homes are expected to be reoccupied soon but beyond that, town officials have received no indication on whether more than 100 trailers would be repaired.

Morgan Management previously indicated that 80 percent of the park needs to be occupied to make the venture economically viable — hinting that it may be forced to close the park. However, the owners are seeking, through this lawsuit, to condense the park into a smaller area.

The next scheduled court date is April 17. Meanwhile, the town's Affordable Housing Committee and the recently formed Higher Ground nonprofit is searching for properties around town to build additional homes for its elderly and low-income population.
Williams Town Morgan Motion and Continuance Notice Injunction

WILL Morgan Continuance and Court Notice Rent Control
Tags: civil cases, Irene, Spruces,

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Williamstown Planners Green Light Initiatives at Both Ends of Route 7

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
12:26PM / Tuesday, January 20, 2026

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Jack Miller Contractors has received the town's approval to renovate and expand the abandoned gas station and convenience store property at the corner of Sand Springs Road and Simonds Road (Route 7) to serve as its new headquarters.

Last Tuesday, the Planning Board voted, 5-0, to approve a development plan for 824 Simonds Road that will incorporate the existing 1,300-square-foot building and add an approximately 2,100-square-foot addition.

"We look forward to turning what is now an eyesore into a beautiful property and hope it will be a great asset to the neighborhood and to Williamstown," Miller said on Friday.

Charlie LaBatt of Guntlow and Associates told the Planning Board that the new addition will be office space while the existing structure will be converted to storage for the contractor.

The former gas station, most recently an Express Mart, was built in 1954 and, as of Friday morning, was listed with an asking price of $300,000 by G. Fuls Real Estate on 0.39 acres of land in the town's Planned Business zoning district.

"The proposed project is to renovate the existing structure and create a new addition of office space," LaBatt told the planners. "So it's both office and, as I've described in the [application], we have a couple of them in town: a storage/shop type space, more industrial as opposed to traditional storage."

He explained that while some developments can be reviewed by Town Hall staff for compliance with the bylaw, there are three potential triggers that send that development plan to the Planning Board: an addition or new building 2,500 square feet or more, the disturbance of 20,000 square feet of vegetation or the creation or alteration of 10 or more parking spots.

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