Great Barrington — An affordable housing project that has been in the works for more than two years was approved by the Selectboard at their meeting on Monday, March 27. The approval of the special permit application, which was submitted by the towns Affordable Housing Trust Fund and Central Berkshire Habitat For Humanity, means that 20 new affordable housing units will be built on a 7.25-acre site in Housatonic.
At the annual town meeting in 2020, residents approved the funds to purchase the land, and in July 2020, the town’s Affordable House Trust Fund purchased the site. In January 2021, the trust awarded development rights to Central Berkshire Habitat for Humanity.
The original plan for the project, which was discussed at various community meetings over the year, was to develop 20 affordable housing units. At a public hearing on March 6 hosted by the Selectboard, however, the organization presented plans for a 30-unit project. This caused considerable criticism from both members of the Selectboard and residents who all were dismayed over the proposed increase in units for the project.
The public hearing for the special permit was continued to March 27, which allowed the organization some time to revise its application back to 20 units. “By reducing 10 units, we’ve consolidated all of the homesites to either be around the loop road [on the property] or along the entrance road [to the site],” Brenton White, Principal from White Engineering Inc. of Pittsfield told the Selectboard. “This has allowed us to increase the amount of open space that is provided behind and beside each unit. As part of the reduction, we will have 50 percent less water use, 50 percent less sewage generated, and 50 percent less traffic that will be generated from these homes. Overall, we feel that with these revisions, we’ve been able to consolidate the development [of the units] to even further to the center of the property, providing the maximum buffer to the rear of the homes to our surrounding neighbors in all four directions. This also maintains a proper road network that is safe for the fire department to access, as well as all of our future homeowners.”
The new application includes a detailed four year timeline for the project. This summer, both the town’s Housing Trust and Central Berkshire Habitat for Humanity will go forward with infrastructure permitting, Request For Proposals (RFP), process advertising, contracting, and awards.
Construction on the infrastructure of the project is set to begin this fall. Phase one of the project, which will include the construction of seven units, will begin in early spring 2024. Phase two of the project, which will include the construction of six units, will start in spring 2026. The project will be completed in spring 2028, which will include the construction of the remaining seven units.
According to the plans as presented, there will be 16 to 18 units that will be two- to three-bedroom homes ranging in size from 900 to 1,200 square feet. There will also be up to four units built as four-bedroom homes that will be 1,400 square feet in size.
According to Pittsfield attorney Elisabeth Goodman, who represents Habitat for Humanity, the houses “will be given to homeowners through a lottery system and they will be sold via a condominium structure.”
Residents, and town officials, speak about the plan
The first person to speak during the public comment portion of the hearing was Fred Clark, Chair of the town’s Affordable Housing Trust. “We met the other night to review the revised plan, and we voted four to one to endorse this plan,” Clark said. “We are on board with this. Personally, I just want to say that no matter how many times I’ve been through this process, or a similar process, either wearing this hat or another hat, I’m always amazed at how well the process works. I think that the process worked in this case and I think that, at the end of the day, we’re going to have a very good product.”
Affordable Housing Trust member Joseph Method said that he was the only member of the trust who voted against the recommendation of the plan. “I think we are too concerned about current homeowners and not concerned enough about the future homeowners,” Method said. “We are too concerned about the abutters and not concerned enough about the overall health of the community. I disagree that the process has worked out well. I think the process, from when the property was purchased, has actually been extremely inappropriate.”
Method said that he is not happy that the organization backed away from its 30-unit plan. “As [Selectboard member and Trust member Garfield Reed] said at our last meeting, 20 is better than nothing,” Method said. “I agree with that. But I don’t think that it is good that we went from 30 to 20 on the basis of some people that complained who are neighbors. This process has included neighbors making noises which have caused people to back away from providing housing.”
Resident Michelle Loubert came out in support of the project but was cautionary in her support for Habitat for Humanity. “I’m so glad [the organization] came to its senses and went back to 20 units,” Loubert said. “You are not just building houses, [Habitat for Humanity] is building trust. My husband and I came close to donating a car [to the organization] before [the 30-unit application] happened. The organization has to now earn my trust back again, so I will be watching this project very carefully.”
Loubert told the Selectboard that she was “deeply insulted” by Method’s remarks. “As somebody who has been here all my life, including my parents and our families, to say that we don’t matter is insulting,” Loubert said. “You’re putting a neighborhood within a neighborhood.”
Resident Vivian Akel, who said that she is an abutter to the property, questioned why the organization increased its planned units to 30. “You said that you wanted to be good neighbors,” Akel said. “I think I need to know why that happened and how it happened, and how you thought it would be acceptable.”
“This is the time for comments either for or against the project, and not the time to ask questions,” Selectboard Chair Stephen Bannon told Akel. “I absolutely understand your concern, but this is not the time to ask questions.”
Akel said that she is against the project because she is afraid that it would impact the quality of life for residents. “We haven’t been in favor mostly because of the process of having [the project] rammed down our throats,” Akel said. “I’m sure that my opinion isn’t going to have an ounce of effect on where this goes, but my trust does have to be earned back. Right now, I think [the town] needs a watchdog because I’m not sure that this is going to go the way we’re being promised.”
Jonathan Hankin, a member of the town’s Planning Board, spoke in favor of the project. “I would like to speak tonight on behalf of the 10 or even 20 families of health care workers, teachers, firefighters, or service workers, who are being denied affordable housing, and a chance to build equity approval of the plan,” Hankin said. “All complaints and discussions had focused solely on the process, not on the design. None of the abutters has offered a single instance of how housing on this property, which had been on the market for seven years, would adversely affect their properties. None of the proposed houses would be as close to the abutter’s houses as their existing neighbors. Since the property has direct access to do for anyone, there will be zero increase in traffic on any of the abutting streets. Finding vacant land like this suitable for creating significant housing is accepted exceedingly rare. In the best of worlds, you will ask the applicant to go back to the drawing board, work with an architect and the Planning Board and come back with a better plan. Your vote to approve this project in its current form may allow the creation of 20 units of affordable housing. But also know that your vote tonight is against affordable housing for 10 or even 20 families that our community desperately needs.”
At the previous hearing, Selectboard member Garfield Reed, who is also a member of the town’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund board and the town’s Housing Subcommittee, questioned the Selectboard on whether or not he should recuse himself from the decision on the special permit. At the beginning of the March 27 hearing, Reed said that, after he consulted with Town Manager Mark Pruhenski and Town Attorney David Doneski, both said that he did not need to recuse himself from any decision on the special permit.
At the beginning of the hearing, however, Selectman Ed Abrahams recused himself. The vote by the Selectboard to approve the special permit was unanimous.
