Allendale Pines Plans Storage Building for Resident Use
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — As part of its expansion, Allendale Pines plans to offer a storage center for residents to curb outdoor clutter.
Last week, the Zoning Board of Appeals continued a request to amend the mobile home community's 2022 site plan to include an over 3,000 square foot storage building. The applicants requested a continuance to October 15 for renotification.
"This is a great project and a great property for the fact that we've, as time has gone by, we've continually been able to provide attainable housing and more uses within the property itself here," Brent White of White Engineering explained on behalf of owner Eagle Allendale LLC.
A few years ago, the park obtained a special permit to add more than 20 units north of existing homes, referred to as Allendale Pines North.
The homes will start as low as $179,900. Residents will pay owner Teton Management Corp. a lot fee of $550, which will include water and sewer, and be responsible for electricity and gas.
The expansion is located at 395 Cheshire Road, bordering the Ashuwillticook Trail, and will include 22 manufactured homes. The project cost is $1.4 million and is not too far from the current mobile home community at 245 Cheshire Road.
There was a discrepancy between the written application for 21 new homes and the site plan with 22 homes.
White reminded ZBA members that there was concern about a neighbor operating a tree service out of their property, who was blocking access with logs. The abutter and Eagle Allendale reportedly reached an agreement that would allow the person to store logs in an alternative location on the park property.
"Essentially, a 16,000 square foot area here on Eagle Allendale property would be allowed. We would allow the abutter to store logs, or any of this equipment, for his business on our property. And that, that was the basis for the grant of the special permit in November of 2022," White reported.
"… This past spring, we did elect to move forward. Started construction at that time. The neighbor did not deliver on his obligations under that agreement to remove the logs."
A new agreement was reached, whereby the abutter does not have the right to use Eagle Allendale's space, allowing it to be filled with a storage building. White said it will allow them to lower the grade of the site as well, making it more accessible to the rail trail.
"At the very end of the driveway where the units from 2021 were proposed, we've actually been able to fit up to a 4,000 square foot storage building on the property here," he said.
"We've got stormwater management to handle that, and we keep all of our work area outside of the 100-foot wetland buffer zone."
It will be a prefabricated metal building with various-sized units around the perimeter and a 12-foot road that allows people to navigate the storage unit.
"They will all be remote entry where both the tenants and the management company have access to lock and unlock. There's a very robust agreement that they have to sign in order to have a unit," White reported.
"One, it's not habitable space. Two, they can't store anything illegal or hazardous. So there's a number of protections that are in place, and what's probably most important for this board to understand is it's only open to tenants of the community."
He added that it could be for bikes, decorations, clothes, "whatever it may be," and that the amenity has seen great success at other communities.
Tags: mobile home park, storage/warehouse,
