Pittsfield Council Designates Private Ways for Snow Removal
PITTSFIELD Mass. — In advance of the season's first snowfall, the City Council last week voted to designate eight private streets for plowing.
These include Applewood Lane, Churchill Crest, Westbrook Terrace, Southbrook Lane, Northbrook Lane, Eastbrook Lane, Pheasant Way, and Old Farm Lane.
The streets include townhomes, condominiums, and a gated community. All have a homeowners association (HOA) fee that pays for services within the association and pays city taxes.
The petition was brought forward by Ward 6 Councilor Dina Guiel Lampiasi and supported unanimously.
"I support this petition. I think that every resident that pays taxes for services from the city should get those services whether they live on a private way or not or if that was developed," Ward 7 Councilor Anthony Maffuccio said.
"We've taken other streets that were developed as private ways and made them plowable and I don't see no reason why we shouldn't approve this 11-0."
Six of the streets, excluding Applewood Lane and Churchill Crest, make up Woodmonte Estates, which is a private, gated community on outer West Street.
Lauren Lavariere attended the meeting to speak on behalf of Woodmonte Estates residents. She said that the linear footage of the roads is comparable to already approved communities such as Berkshire County Meadows (Walden Village) and Salisbury Estates.
She said the homeowners paid almost half of a million dollars in property taxes in 2021, claiming that they pay the most out of all the communities in the city, public or private.
Lavariere also pointed out that Woodmonte maintains all private services such as its own sewer facility that is shared with a neighboring private community that is included on the city's snow removal list.
"We understand being a private community requires the Woodmonte homeowners to maintain and pay for extra services, but we feel clearing of the roads to ensure Pittsfield residents and children can get to work and school safely is a small ask and a significant and large impact for the community families," she said.
"Woodmonte is asking that they be added to the city's routine snow removal services like every other Pittsfield resident and like so many other private communities that have already been included."
A search on Neighborwho.com shows the average property tax in Churchill Crest is $2,821 per year and the average property tax in Applewood Lane is $1,503 per year.
Tags: snow removal,
