WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The owner of the Sweetwood assisted living community in South Williamstown is proposing a zoning bylaw amendment that would enable the property to transition to regular apartments in the future.

 

Sweetwood currently operates under a special permit granted more than 40 years ago to allow an assisted living residence in a zoning district where multifamily residences (apartments) are prohibited.

 

Attorney Jeffrey Grandchamp Tuesday met with the Planning Board to discuss a proposal for the May 2025 annual town meeting that would create a zoning overlay district enabling multifamily residences on the Sweetwood property under a special permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals.

 

Grandchamp reiterated that CareOne, Sweetwood's owner, is committed to honoring the assisted living contracts it has with current residents, and Sweetwood is still marketed online to potential new residents as an "independent living" community.

 

As written and presented on Tuesday, the proposed bylaw would create the overlay district and allow "conversion of existing building(s), or parts thereof" to apartments after approval from the ZBA. It essentially was the same proposal that Grandchamp brought to the board in February but pulled from consideration for the 2024 annual town meeting.

 

"We spent the summer working with the town and waited until this time of year to come back before you," Grandchamp told the board. "The idea was to have a zoning overlay that will allow the conversion of existing buildings but not the construction of new buildings.

 

"We tried to keep this fairly simple."