For those who want to "get out there," either as an excuse to get outside or to fix the view out the window, the landscape could still use your attention.
Second-home owners have no voting rights in Massachusetts, so their influence in state and local affairs is necessarily limited. They certainly are permitted to attend town meetings and, in most towns, are allowed to speak at the discretion of the moderator.
At issue is that the plan ran afoul of the town's Cottage Era Estate zoning bylaw governing the development of a handful of historic properties in town that fall under that bylaw.
In her letter Anita Schwerner writes: “Along with many in Stockbridge, I was bamboozled by what happened with Elm Court. Our attention has now turned to out-of-town developers who claim to know what is best for Stockbridge.”
While we like to think the Berkshires is populated with good people and only good people, we are not always right. The combination of bad actors and naiveté has resulted in more than one Berkshire swindle.
On Thursday, July 20, at 7:30 p.m., Berkshire Bash will present “A Legend Lives On,” featuring the Glenn Miller Orchestra at Monument Mountain Regional High School. Special guests: the MMRHS Jazz Band All Stars.
Organized by Boston University music professor Dr. Jeremy Yudkin, the Beatles music concert will feature musicians from the Berkshires and beyond recreating all the songs on the album 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.'
Stockbridge should support and insist upon the DeSisto developer building all the positive aspects of its proposal while pressing for the least density the developer will accept in an atmosphere of mutual respect and acknowledgment.
There is more money available at better rates for new builds. Tax deductions for depreciation help carry the new hotel even when it is not profitable. Spreading loss over a chain of hotels, some very profitable, may also be a benefit.
Stockbridge has come as close to pure preservation, maintaining the frozen past, as is possible in the modern world. Was it to attract tourists, to maintain quality of life, or preserve a way of life? Why?
“We don’t need more people from New York and Boston to come spend millions of dollars on houses....the town needs to be rejuvenated.....to function as a community. We need families.”
-- Sally Underwood Miller, criticizing the proposed massive redevelopment of the former DeSisto School campus on Route 183
