Tim Lovett of Compass offers the opportunity to own your own 74-acre private sanctuary in the heart of Great Barrington. The architectural design firm of Clark Green + Bek works with new owners to transform Doctor Sax House from a private home to a stunning boutique hotel. A year-end wrap-up of 2024 real estate sales has surprises. Plus, recent sales and gardening columns and a home-cooking recipe.
Valkyrie will have to go through the site-plan review process with the town planning board and negotiate a host community agreement with the selectboard.
Several who spoke against it were members of the Lake Mansfield Improvement Task Force, which spent more than 10 years working on a comprehensive plan for restoring and maintaining the lake that included a plan to close the road to vehicular traffic.
Other board members said it was clear to them after that first public hearing that the Foster's lot would be closed to the public if the company was denied the right to build the new lot for its tenants.
John began his insurance career with companies in Newark, New Jersey, and in Boston and later joined the Wheeler & Taylor agency in Great Barrington. He served as its president from 1976 until his retirement in 1985.
Selectman Ed Abrahams added that he is concerned that the same thing that happened at the gated parking lot at the end of Railroad Street will happen to the proposed gated parcel at the School Street property.
Fulcrum attorney Kate McCormick indicated that there were delays in the studies required of the applicant on sound, noise and odor and the peer reviews of those studies by the town.
The proposal, first made public in September, has alarmed residents of the neighborhood, whose concerns range from noise and odors to the effect of the Fulcrum project on property values and the aforementioned impact on the water supply.
Proposals for how to use the cannabis revenue windfall will be discussed by the selectboard and the finance committee in the upcoming deliberations for next year's budget, with voters having the final say on how to spend free cash at the annual town meeting in May.
Brandee Nelson said the task force is "confused" about what the selectboard's "goal is going forward" and "how confusing it might be to drivers" in transitioning the road to one-way and then going "to a closure scenario."
The fact is that the people of Massachusetts, and specifically of Great Barrington, voted in statewide referendum to allow this operation. We don’t necessarily learn about the downsides until the moment of truth is upon us.
On several occasions during the hearing, Great Barrington Selectboard Chairman Steve Bannon rapped his gavel and warned hecklers that they would be removed from the room if they persisted.
In declining to recommend the permit to the selectboard, which will consider it on Monday night, the health board said it needed more information on noise, odor and possible effects on groundwater.
In a letter to the editor, John Beacco writes, 'Restricting itself to the text of the bylaw and avoiding its social, economic and moral implications is expedient and not at all helpful to those living near the proposed project, or the selectboard that is charged as the special permit-granting authority.'
A vision should address the necessary integration of our two village centers (Great Barrington and Housatonic), the beautification and improved use of a revitalized town center, the reuse of town properties, housing needs, and the creation of an economic development template that would attract community members and investors.
