WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Planning Board has decided to seek more input before moving ahead with a proposal that would encourage more mixed-use development in the town's business zones.

 

For months, the board had acknowledged that a lot of work needed to go into putting a full-fledged zoning overlay district proposal before town meeting but was optimistic the task could be completed in time for May's annual meeting.

 

But last Tuesday, the town planner suggested that the board could benefit from the work of consultants which the town could hire if it receives a couple of grants from the commonwealth.

 

One of those grants could help fund a study to look at what sorts of business development might be possible if the town code is changed to encourage the construction of buildings that combine commercial and residential uses in its Limited Business and Planned Business zoning districts.

 

"[The town has] done housing needs assessments a couple of times, what about a market needs assessment?" Community Development Director Andrew Groff asked the board rhetorically at its monthly meeting. "That undergirds the whole rezoning program. And then you build the form-based [zoning] on top of that."

 

Groff told the board that he started thinking about the need for studies to support the mixed-use zoning initiative after conversations with officials from the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission and preliminary talks with the type of consultant who might be able to help the town get the data it could use.

 

The planner also suggested that the creation of overlay districts could be done in phases.

 

"We do the market work, we pick one zone and get [the overlay district] implemented as a case study, make sure there's community support for that," Groff said. "Then we go for another grant application. There's another planning grant from Housing and Livable Communities that usually comes out in the summer with a higher grant cap. We go for that one to finish and do the form-based [code], as Cory's envisioned, over all the business districts in town."

 

Williamstown zoning follows a more traditional model that focuses on land uses. Form-based rules focus on the design, footprint and bulk of buildings instead of how they will be used.

 

Groff also said a form-based zoning approach could solve a different issue that the Planning Board has been working on over the last year: how to create a zoning regimen that provides predictability for future projects on the Williams College campus.

 

"The conversation I had last week with a possible consultant was interesting," he said. "Because she's working to apply similar concepts to a number of college towns in New England. A light bulb went off. That's how you get the campus zoning done: You apply the same form-based principles also to the campus and you streamline the whole document and make it very user friendly."

 

Cory Campbell, who has been doing much of the legwork on the mixed-use zoning initiative, said he was concerned about tethering it to a grant application process where it is unknown whether the town will be awarded funds. But he agreed that it was worth pursuing.

 

Campbell has been talking about the possibility of allowing more mixed-use development in town since he was elected to a five-year term on the board in May 2023.

 

Although that work may not bear fruit in terms of a zoning bylaw proposal to send to town meeting this May, the Planning Board likely will have a couple of other articles on the town meeting warrant.

 

One article — or set of articles, depending on how they're written — will ask meeting members to modify the town's bylaw on accessory dwelling units to bring it into compliance with state law.

 

Williamstown was ahead of the state on allowing detached ADUs in most of its residential zoning districts. But Boston has since mandated that municipalities allow for the so-called "granny flats" to help meet the commonwealth's housing shortage.

 

In order to comply with Massachusetts General Law, the town code must be amended to allow ADUs in Rural Residence 1 (a sparsely populated district with higher elevations and sensitive environmental areas), remove a parking requirements for the accessory dwelling units and strike the need for Zoning Board of Appeals approval under certain conditions.

 

While changes to the 2019 ADU bylaw are on the table, the Planning Board also is proposing that town meetings strike its provisions for a five-year waiting period for new detached units after a principal dwelling unit has been converted from a one-family home to a two-family home and for conversion to two-family after the construction of an ADU.

 

Groff said the five-year proviso was created out of fear of new units being created for use as short-term rentals; a fear addressed by last spring's town meeting action on so-called Airbnbs.

 

"That plus a fear of densification," led to the five-year waiting period, Groff said. "But it was a very different conversation that we're having today. This board pushed for and got approval for three- and four-unit buildings in most neighborhoods in town. The conversation looks different today than it did [in 2019]."

 

A separate potential warrant article for the May 19 town meeting will ask members to approve the town's participation in the state's Seasonal Communities designation.

 

The Season Communities program opens up grant opportunities for municipalities to address housing affordability issues when they see significant fluctuations in population due to season activity. The program was rolled out for towns on Cape Cod, but the state recently invited other communities, including in Berkshire County, that see the same sorts of pressures.

 

"I attended … an informational session with the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities," Planning Board member Erik Reardon said. "The tool that really resonated with me was this new category of 'attainable housing' for folks earning up to 250 percent of [area median income]. It's really geared for workforce housing for teachers, municipal employees, health care professionals, things like that.

 

"The idea is to have a dedicated board, similar to what we have for affordable housing, for attainable housing, which I thought is really something that could benefit Williamstown and all these communities in the Berkshires."

 

Participation in the Seasonal Communities program does require towns and cities to make adjustments to their zoning code: allowing construction of homes for year-round housing on lots smaller than Williamstown's current minimum of 10,000 square feet in the General Residence district and specifically allowing the construction of so-called "tiny houses."

 

Williamstown currently does not have a minimum house size in its code, but "I think you have to define them and put them in a special category that shows it's allowed," Groff said.

 

If town meeting opts into the Season Communities program in May, the town would have two years to implement those zoning changes, Groff told the Planning Board. In the meantime, Williamstown would be eligible for grant programs that come with the Seasonal Communities designation.

 

The Select Board last week indicated its support for the Seasonal Communities idea. The Planning Board followed by encouraging Groff to put together warrant article language in time to get it on the docket for the May meeting.

 

And while that spring annual meeting may not get to consider the mixed-use zoning proposal Campbell has been fostering, Groff offered hope on Tuesday that such a "test case" could be up for adoption in calendar year 2026.

 

In an unrelated item, Groff informed the board that a state climate bill is mandating that towns and cities adopt their code to allow larger solar and battery storage projects. That compliance is required by the end of the calendar year, but the state regulations will not be finalized until this summer, Groff said.

 

"There is a possibility this board might ask the Select Board to have a special town meeting in the fall of 2026 to bring us into compliance with these draft regulations," Groff said.

 

"Maybe we can have a [mixed-use development] pilot for that if we go down that road."