Great Barrington — The Planning Board has tentatively set a public hearing for new zoning regulations for Thursday, March 14. The board met with the Selectboard towards the end of their special meeting on Monday, January 29 at Town Hall to discuss a proposed new section of the zoning bylaws for cohousing in residential developments, along with multi-unit and mixed-use residential developments in several different zones.
As stated in the draft zoning regulations, a cohousing residential development is defined as “a residential building or buildings in which residential units consist of private sleeping quarters and in which facilities such as bathrooms, dining rooms, kitchens, and laundry facilities may be shared with other residents.”
The purpose of the proposed regulation is to encourage cohousing development because, as listed in the draft zoning regulation, the housing option is “generally more affordable to residents because typical housekeeping facilities are shared in common with other residents.”
At the January 29 meeting, Selectboard Vice Chair Leigh Davis recused herself from the discussion about cohousing in residential developments because she is also the Community Engagement and Communications Director at Construct Inc. and had a role in the acquisition of the Windflower Inn, which has been repurposed for workforce housing.
According to Assistant Town Manager and Town Planner Christopher Rembold, the proposed zoning regulations would encourage future workforce housing developments similar to the Windflower Inn, and cohousing developments are not explicitly permitted in the town’s current zoning regulations. “When zoning regulations came into the picture around 1920, it eliminated this type of use across the board,” Rembold said. “It took away the ability of this use across the country. If you look at our history of Main Street, there were three buildings that were built that were dedicated to be boarding houses.”
“When we found out Windflower was opening and [the project was] moving forward, I was personally surprised that they were prohibited in town [due to zoning regulations],” Planning Board member Malcolm Fick said. “They had to go and find a workaround to allow that in town because there’s nothing in our bylaws that allows that kind of process. That was the impetus for pursuing this.”
As proposed in the zoning bylaw, cohousing developments would be allowed in all zoning districts, including industrial zones. The bylaw would require property owners to file a management plan and would require cohousing units to have a minimum of 150 square feet of net usable area. The proposed regulation also sets out requirements for common bathrooms and cooking and laundry facilities, along with parking for both automobiles and bicycles.
Selectboard member Eric Gabriel said that he is “slightly nervous about some creative designs in overfilling a space” when it comes to cohousing developments.
“That is a fundamental concern that people have when it comes to site development,” Planning Board Chair Brandee Nelson responded. “In the [current] zoning codes setback and coverage requirements that exist now. Those wouldn’t change. [Any property development] would have to meet the requirements for front, side, and rear yards, and the minimum coverage requirements, along with height limits that set the general geometry for the site. It’s not as if you’re going to be able to put an eight-story building on a half-acre lot because when you start laying out the parking, space, and height requirements of the buildings and all the setbacks, you fall into a geometry.”
The Planning Board’s second proposal is to amend the current zoning table of use regulations to allow multi-unit residential developments and mixed-use developments by right in several zones in town. The proposal would also allow for both types of developments to be developed by a special permit through the Planning Board.
