Council Subcommittee OKs Pittsfield Affordable Housing Trust

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city is looking to adopt an affordable housing trust to create and preserve accessible housing in the community.

On Monday, the Ordinances and Rules subcommittee unanimously voted in favor of the trust. It will be sent to the full council next week.

"Basically it's a mechanism that communities can adopt as a way to help create affordable housing, and there's a whole host of ways it can do that," City Planner CJ Hoss explained.  

"But the fund is overseen by a board of trustees, which would then be created by this ordinance if you adopt it, and this isn't something that's overly unique. There aren't many communities in the Berkshires that have it, but over 120 communities in Massachusetts have adopted an affordable housing trust fund. Locally, Williamstown, Great Barrington, and Lenox are the primary exemptions."

This proposal dates back to the re-zoning of Downtown Pittsfield as a creative district in April of last year. The new designation included an inclusionary zoning layer that required residential developers over a certain amount of units to provide affordable housing.

"This is a great ordinance," Ward 7 Councilor Anthony Maffuccio said. "And we are in dire need of affordable housing in this community, there's too much market-rate apartments going up and not enough affordable housing going up."

An affordable housing trust fund is one of the prescriptive ways that a developer can meet that goal, Hoss explained, as they can contribute to it if they aren't going to provide affordable units.

At the time of the Downtown Creative District's approval, the city had not created a trust but promised that it would be done in the next year.

The creative district zoning aims to support a vibrant, mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly urban downtown, determine the best way for the city of Pittsfield through its land-use boards to control the appearance of future development in the downtown, and replace existing overlay and underlying districts with a form-based code.

It removed and replaced the downtown arts overlay district and the downtown business zoning district.

Pittsfield ZBA Member Recognized for 40 Years of Service

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
12:23PM / Thursday, April 25, 2024

Albert Ingegni III tells the council about how his father-in-law, former Mayor Remo Del Gallo who died at age 94 in 2020, enjoyed his many years serving the city and told Ingegni to do the same. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — It's not every day that a citizen is recognized for decades of service to a local board — except for Tuesday.

Albert Ingegni III was applauded for four decades of service on the Zoning Board of Appeals during City Council. Mayor Peter Marchetti presented him with a certificate of thanks for his commitment to the community.

"It's not every day that you get to stand before the City Council in honor of a Pittsfield citizen who has dedicated 40 years of his life serving on a board or commission," he said.

"As we say that, I know that there are many people that want to serve on boards and commissions and this office will take any resume that there is and evaluate each person but tonight, we're here to honor Albert Ingegni."

The honoree is currently chair of the ZBA, which handles applicants who are appealing a decision or asking for a variance.

Ingegni said he was thinking on the ride over about his late father-in-law, former Mayor Remo Del Gallo, who told him to "enjoy every moment of it because it goes really quickly."

"He was right," he said. "Thank you all."

The council accepted $18,000 from the state Department of Conservation and Recreation and a  $310,060 from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Safe Streets and Roads for All program.