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The former Sweet Brook Care Centers is being considered for a behavioral facility. The nursing home was shut down a year ago after allegations of abuse and neglect.
Updated May 19, 2022 07:51AM

Planned Chemical Dependency Center Headed to Williamstown Zoning Board

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
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Williamstown's community development director Thursday morning reported that the hearing on the application from Williamstown Recovery Realty LLC likely will be postponed to the ZBA's June 16 meeting.
 
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — A vacant Cold Spring Road property could have new life if the Zoning Board of Appeals gives the go-ahead on Thursday night in June.
 
Williamstown Recovery Realty LLC will be before the board seeking a special permit to operate an inpatient behavioral health-care facility at 1561 Cold Spring Road (Route 7), at the site of the former Sweet Brook Care Centers.
 
The Woodmere, N.Y.,-based applicant is seeking a special permit to operate on the site. Section 70-3.3 of the town code requires special permits for a "nursing home or other medical institution" in all parts of town where they are permissible.
 
Throughout its written application to the board, Williamstown Recovery emphasizes that its proposed use of the former nursing home site will be largely the same from a regulatory standpoint.
 
"Our intended use as an inpatient chemical dependency/co-occurring disorder treatment facility will fall under the same use as the previous nursing home and will not require any change the current utilities," the application reads in part. "No utility extensions would be required."
 
Likewise, the application explains that Williamstown Recovery plans no changes to the exterior of the current building, though it does intend to make aesthetic changes on the inside to "make it feel warmer, and less institutional for our patients' comfort."
 
On one key standard that often features prominently into the ZBA's deliberations, Williamstown Recovery argues that, per the bylaw, "the general neighborhood [would] not be negatively affected by impacts" of its proposed operation.
 
"The current property is situated on over 14 acres, providing adequate distance from surrounding properties and a private campus for patients," the application reads. "Our intended use will provide much needed services to the local and surrounding communities which are lacking these types of treatment programs."
 
On another metric, the proposed chemical dependency treatment center would have less of an impact than the former nursing home, the applicant claims.
 
According to the application, Williamstown Recovery would have a first-year patient census of 20 people per month who would be served by about 21 staff members -- far below the population served at Sweet Brook, thus lowering the amount of vehicular traffic at the site.
 
"While our census and staff will likely increase over time, it is unlikely that we will operate at full capacity," the application reads. "Traffic will include employees coming to and from work, as well as families/loved ones dropping off or picking up patients for admission or discharge."
 
 
The Zoning Board of Appeals will meet in person to consider other matters on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Town Hall; the meeting will be available electronically via the town's Zoom account or for viewing on WilliNet.

Tags: ZBA,   health care,   

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Williams Seeking Town Approval for New Indoor Practice Facility

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Planning Board last week gave Williams College the first approval it needs to build a 55,000-square foot indoor athletic facility on the north side of its campus.
 
Over the strenuous objection of a Southworth Street resident, the board found that the college's plan for a "multipurpose recreation center" or MRC off Stetson Road has adequate on-site parking to accommodate its use as an indoor practice facility to replace Towne Field House, which has been out of commission since last spring and was demolished this winter.
 
The college plans a pre-engineered metal that includes a 200-meter track ringing several tennis courts, storage for teams, restrooms, showers and a training room. The athletic surface also would be used as winter practice space for the school's softball and baseball teams, who, like tennis and indoor track, used to use the field house off Latham Street.
 
Since the planned structure is in the watershed of Eph's Pond, the college will be before the Conservation Commission with the project.
 
It also will be before the Zoning Board of Appeals, on Thursday, for a Development Plan Review and relief from the town bylaw limiting buildings to 35 feet in height. The new structure is designed to have a maximum height of 53 1/2 feet and an average roof height of 47 feet.
 
The additional height is needed for two reasons: to meet the NCAA requirement for clearance above center court on a competitive tennis surface (35 feet) and to include, on one side, a climbing wall, an element also lost when Towne Field House was razed.
 
The Planning Board had a few issues to resolve at its March 12 meeting. The most heavily discussed involved the parking determination for a use not listed in the town's zoning bylaws and a decision on whether access from town roads to the building site in the middle of Williams' campus was "functionally equivalent" to the access that would be required under the town's subdivision rules and regulations.
 
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