Williams Hotel Project Percolating Through Town BoardsBy Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
10:12PM / Monday, November 17, 2014 | |
 The Williamstown Conservation Commission last week reviewed a wetlands resource area delineation for land where Williams College wants to build a new hotel. |
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — More than a year after Williams College made public its internal discussions about building a small hotel on the bottom of Spring Street, the proposal is taking its first tentative steps in the permitting process.
Last Thursday, the Conservation Commission reviewed a vegetative wetlands delineation commissioned by the college from local engineering firm Guntlow & Associates.
On Tuesday evening, the Planning Board will hold a "community input session" to consider a possible expansion of the Village Business District to include the same parcel.
Currently the business district ends at Latham Street at the south end of Spring Street, according to a zoning map available on the town’s website.
In other business, the Planning Board will look at a development plan for the college's planned residence hall on Stetson Court, on land where Harper House now stands and from which Mather House will be moved on Wednesday morning.
The Con Comm decision did not concern any specific proposal for the site, per se. It merely laid the foundation for future proceedings before the panel.
The college likely would need to file a Notice of Intent and face a rigorous examination by the board of any proposed construction on site.
The delineation approved by the commission on Thursday would form the basis for those potential hearings.
The Con Comm last Thursday also decided to submit a request to the Community Preservation Committee for Community Preservation Act funds to support future improvements to land managed by the commission. The CPC will review applications this winter and make recommendations for funding to May's town meeting.
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