NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — It took several attempts, but the Planning Board on Monday approved a new special permit for a camping resort on Notch Road.

 

Benjamin Crespi has been before the Planning Board several times after taking on the glamping proposal first broached by the original developer back in 2019. The project's hit a number of roadblocks, not the least being the opposition by neighbors on the thinly settled road which resulted in litigation.

 

Crespi, operating as 196 Marine LLC, said the last iteration of the resort had been scrapped and he was moving forward with year-round tents. 

 

The 49 tents would be clustered in two areas, closer together than the original cabins, and would also be hooked into the sewer system rather than a leach field. 

 

He said costs played a part in reducing the footprint and switching from a recreational resort to a "wellness" profile. 

 

"The capital costs of my project have doubled," Crespi told the board. "My old site plan, which has the same unit count, had units scattered farther south on the project. We put the cabins in tent A and tent B locations. Tent A is where the prior recreation pavilion was for on-site bike competitions and other outdoor recreation competition planning. 

 

"We've removed that element from the project and have gone towards a spa, wellness center."

 

He's proposing to use the existing single-family home on the 145 acres as a lounge on the main floor and sauna and a cold pool on the lower floor. The pond on the property would be turned into a natural pool, and that "this has all been discussed with the Conservation Commission, and we have mapped out what that process looks like," he said. Crespi also pointed out that he's added plantings and saplings between the main resort and the downhill neighbors and will increase the perimeter setback from 50 feet to 100. 

 

"So recreation has been removed; it is now a wellness approach to camping," he said. "So you're camping in the woods and you have a sauna. There's a much more down-tempo project than initially proposed, but it does respect the 49 camping units."

 

The resort will still host recreational activities — guided hikes, fly fishing lessons, yoga, rental bikes and other subdued activities. It also will have a small retail store and serve food and alcohol. 

 

The NKN-Softshell tents are 14-foot high with post and beam interiors designed by Bjarke Ingels Group and manufactured by Nokken Group, headquartered in England. Crespi said the design offers architectural elegance with practical versatility and is environmentally friendly.

 

"We thought was important about this tent is that, since it's architecturally being significant, I think it ties into the art movement and what's going on in the city, specifically in Mass MoCA," he said. 

 

They will include bathrooms and propane heaters for the winter months and sit on a platform rather than a foundation. Crespi said the prototype should be on site next month and invited the planners to see it. 

 

"We think it would be a very unique asset for North Adams to have a winter camping atmosphere, because if it exists, it would draw traffic and awareness to the city, economic traffic," he said. 

 

In response to questions, Crespi estimated 20 to 25 full-time jobs, including a general manager who would be housed on a separate property, and in-direct jobs for instructors and guides. The resort would pay rooms and property taxes and its patrons would be spending money in the community. 

 

Neighbors on Notch Road, represented by attorney Elisabeth Goodman, objected to approving a special permit without more information on the sites or the Conservation Commission. 

 

"Your bylaws has specific requirements for proposed campsites, and those include each campsite having not less than 50 feet of frontage on an access driveway. That's not a group of campsites. That's each campsite," she said. "Secondly, it says in your bylaw that each campsite must have not less than 2,500 square feet of area for exclusive use of each occupant."

 

She also noted that hotels, motels and tourist cabins with more than sleeping accommodations are required to include an environmental analysis and "we don't know if your roads can safely handle the traffic in this location in the winter."

 

Neighbors were also concerned about noise and events at the resort, pointing to the parking lot which can accommodate 230 cars. 

 

Gregory Doench of Notch Road asked the planners if they thought a business like this was appropriate in a rural residential zone. 

 

"Traffic can be very dangerous. My wife was passed by a car on not Notch Road two days ago without an out-of-state plate who thought that was twisty-turny road going up past this property was a good place to pass," he said, quoting a neighbor from six years ago who described it as "a mega change to the character of this area. This type of use is what so many of us else specifically chose to avoid when located here." 

 

Crespi said the each individual site would be 50-by-50-feet, which would meet the 2,500 square feet and be on 20 to 25 acres and there would be two wood campfires. He asked the planners to allow him some flexibility to provide the site plan as a grouping instead of individual sites because the tents may have to be shifted around dependent on ledge. 

 

The entire property is 145 acres, which means he could potentially build 145 homes up there, he pointed out, so instead of 49 sites being occupied about 60 percent of the time, they could have 145 sites occupied 100 percent of the time. 

 

Notch Road is recognized by the state as an access to Mount Greylock State Reservation, which sees some 100,000 to 200,000 visitors a year, said Chair Brian Miksic, which would far exceed any comparable traffic to the resort.  

 

Planner Robert Burdick first motioned to postpone the vote until more information was provided. Miksic said if they were going to approve that, they should be specific on what information required. Burdick brought up some of the issues that Goodman had raised on the ordinances but Miksic said he didn't really agree with her take. No one had specific questions so the motion was withdrawn. 

 

Miksic motioned to approve with conditions on event times and noise. 

 

"It appears to me that a more thorough application with all of these details," said Building Inspector William Meranti. "We're not supposed to dictate what the business is going to do and when they can do it. He should be asking us for something, and what he's asking us for includes a lot of questions from us, from the neighbors, from attorneys, a more thorough site plan where the sites are the size of the sites, would clear up the 50 by 50 and question the frontage on the sites, the location of the fire pits. Would clear up the location of the fire pits and the number of fire pits."

 

That raised more questions so Miksic withdrew his motion and Burdick again motioned to postpone until Meranti's questions could be answered but didn't get a second. Miksic again motioned to approve with Planner Lisa Blackmer seconding with the conditions of only acoustic entertainment outside, no entertainment after 8 p.m. weekdays and 10 p.m. weekends, and one event of 50 or more people per weekend.

 

The motion passed 5-2  with Burdick and Paul Senecal voting no; Planner Virginia Riehl participated remotely and Kyle Hanlon was absent.

 

In other business, the planners swiftly approved a ceramic fabrication shop at 69 Union St., the former Gateway car dealership. Owner David Carver said the 5,000 square feet had previously been used by Gem Environmental, his own company's storage and by Williams College athletic training. 

 

The space will be split into two rooms with upgraded electrical and windows for the lessee, from Brooklyn, N.Y. 

 

• A hearing for a solar storage facility for North Adams PV LLC on Christopher Columbus Drive was postponed again when the applicant did not show up. 

 

• A Form A allowing the sale of two plots at 128 and 116 Pleasant was approved and the board reviewed the capital budget planning process and how it will be presented to City Council.