WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Planning Board met recently with consultants who are helping the body develop amendments to the town's subdivision bylaw.

 

In a conversation set to continue at a special Planning Board meeting on Tuesday, April 28, representatives of Northampton architecture and civil engineering firms Dodson and Flinker and Berkshire Design Group outlined some of the decision points for the board as it develops a major revision of the bylaw.

 

Unlike the zoning bylaw, for which the Planning Board makes recommendations to town meeting, the subdivision bylaw is under the direct authority of the five-member elected board.

 

The Subdivision Control Law, Article 170 in the town code, was first adopted by the Planning Board in 1959. The current board is looking to do the first major revision to the rules that "guide the development of land into lots served with adequate roads and utilities," since 1993.

 

The town hired the Northampton consultants with the proceeds of a grant administered by the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission.

 

Dillon Sussman, a senior associate at Dodson and Flinker, laid out the scope of the project and the objectives of the board as conveyed to the consultants.

 

"What we understand of your goals for the project is to make small subdivision projects more economically feasible," Sussman said. "We've heard that you think that small subdivision projects are more likely … that there's not much land remaining [in Williamstown] for large projects. And you've had some experience with a small subdivision project that was difficult to fit in your current subdivision regulations."