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Record of Proceedings

Great Barrington Planning Board Meeting - October 9, 2025

Selectboard & Town Boards — Thursday, October 9, 2025
BodyGreat Barrington, Massachusetts
SessionSelectboard & Town Boards
DateThursday, October 9, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:08:00

Original source
Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

Speaker numbers apply only to this recording. Names come from transcript evidence. “Possibly” marks uncertain attribution.

Speaker 1

0:00

All right.

0:01

So this is the Great Barrington Planning Board meeting for what is today, October 9th.

0:08

And we'll do a roll call.

0:10

Oh, this meeting is being recorded.

0:11

Is anyone else recording

Speaker 2

0:12

the meeting?

Unassigned speaker

0:14

Okay.

Speaker 1

0:14

Great.

0:16

So we will do roll call attendance, Malcolm.

0:20

Jeremy?

0:21

Jackie?

0:22

Jonathan?

Speaker 2

0:22

Here.

Speaker 1

0:23

Brandy here.

0:24

Okay, great.

0:25

We'll move on to formes.

0:26

There are none as I understand.

0:28

Okay.

0:28

Next item.

0:29

Um are our minutes from our last meeting, September 25th.

0:34

Do we have a motion to approve?

Speaker 3

0:36

Yes.

0:36

So

Speaker 1

0:37

thank you.

0:38

Do we have a second?

Speaker 3

0:39

Second.

Speaker 1

0:40

Thank you, Malcolm.

0:40

We have a motion and a second.

0:41

Are there any discussion on the minutes?

0:43

Any further discussion?

0:45

Okay.

0:45

Uh hearing none, all in favor.

0:47

Aye.

0:48

Any opposed?

0:49

All right.

0:50

Great.

0:50

We'll move on to our first order of uh regular business, uh special permit review, review and recommendation to the zoning board of appeals for the special permit application from Catherine and Trevor Hurst, 134 Fairview, Monterey Mass to demolish an existing non-conforming home on a non-conforming lot at 23 Rosseter Street, Fred Barrington, Massachusetts, and erect new residential structures on the same lot.

1:13

We held a site visit on this at 5 30.

1:15

Mr.

1:16

Minnesota, do you want to come up here?

1:18

Um we are on Zoom for this meeting.

1:23

We have nobody participation.

Speaker 4

1:25

There's nobody online.

1:30

Okay.

Speaker 1

1:30

So if you could just for the record give your names, and then if you could just talk us through what you share uh at the site visit just for the benefit of the folks that are here in the room.

Trevor Hurst · Speaker 5Inferred

1:39

Okay.

1:39

My name is Trevor Hurst.

Speaker 2

1:41

And my name is Catherine Hurst.

Trevor Hurst · Speaker 5Inferred

1:44

And we want to demolish an existing building and put two buildings in its place with each two units in them.

1:54

Compact residential units, rental units.

Speaker 2

2:01

Yeah, we uh meeting um setbacks with uh

Unassigned speaker

2:07

uh

Speaker 2

2:07

with one um new building in the back, and um the first building that's closer to the street is gonna be built.

2:14

Um it's existing um print um we to its height.

2:26

Um

Trevor Hurst · Speaker 5Inferred

2:27

we've reviewed all the bylaws.

2:29

We're within zoning uh requirements uh setbacks we are building on less than 75 percent of the lot size.

2:39

Uh we have we can build uh by right six units, we're building four units.

2:46

Uh so

Unassigned speaker

2:48

uh

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Site Plan Review█████████████████████21%
Historic Preservation█████████████████17%
Procedural███████████11%
Community Engagement███████████11%
Zoning And Land Use█████████9%
Holiday Displays███████7%
Public Engagement██████6%
Tree Preservation████4%
Energy Efficiency████4%
Summary of Proceedings

Great Barrington Planning Board Meeting - October 9, 2025

The Great Barrington Planning Board met on October 9, 2025, to approve minutes, review two special permit applications for the Zoning Board of Appeals, receive updates on town planning initiatives, and hear public comments on community projects. The board unanimously recommended approval for both special permit applications.

Consent Calendar

  • Approved the minutes from the September 25, 2025 meeting by unanimous vote.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Sharon Gregory (Hollandbeck Avenue) and Redbeard Simmons (One Haley Road) proposed decorating the Cottage Street Bridge for the holidays (Thanksgiving through New Year's Day) with garlands, wreaths, and solar lights, and exploring a flower bridge in warmer months, using all volunteer support. They requested guidance and approvals from the town.
  • Sharon Gregory raised questions about Community Preservation Committee (CPC) funding priorities, specifically for the historic Ramsdale Library, and discussed the need for increased public support for such projects at CPC meetings.

Discussion Items

  • Special Permit Review – Hurst Application (23 Rosseter Street): Catherine and Trevor Hurst presented plans to demolish a non-conforming single-family home on a non-conforming lot and build two new residential structures with four compact rental units total. The existing house is in poor condition and non-compliant with setbacks. The new buildings would improve setbacks and provide needed housing. Board members raised questions about parking (no on-site requirement but four units likely generate cars), refuse management, tree removal on property lines, lighting (recommending dark-sky compliant bollards), and the historic significance of Rosseter Street in Great Barrington's Black history (noted by Jackie). The board unanimously voted to recommend the special permit to the Zoning Board of Appeals.
  • Special Permit Review – Bordonero Application (271 Monument Valley Road): Brian Bordonero, architect, presented plans to alter a pre-existing non-conforming single-family home (non-conforming due to front yard setback of 18 feet). Proposed addition on the north side will not reduce the setback. Board members had no significant concerns. Unanimous vote to recommend the special permit to the Zoning Board of Appeals.
  • Open Space and Recreation Plan Survey: Chris announced that the survey is live online and in paper, available in English and Spanish, through mid-November. Board members agreed to share the link via their contacts.
  • Board and Subcommittee Updates:
    • Malcolm reported on the retirement of Tom Matuszko (BRPC executive director) and the upcoming search committee.
    • Malcolm distributed summaries of state energy siting regulations (Clean Energy Act) that will affect local permitting for large energy projects (>25 MW) and create a streamlined process for smaller ones. Board discussed potential impacts.
    • Jeremy noted no CPC meeting update; applications for Step 1 are due November 5, with key discussions in December.

Key Outcomes

  • Unanimous positive recommendation (motion and second, all in favor) for the Hurst special permit application to the Zoning Board of Appeals.
  • Unanimous positive recommendation for the Bordonero special permit application to the Zoning Board of Appeals.
  • Board directed that the Cottage Street Bridge decoration proposal be pursued with appropriate town approvals; no formal action taken.
  • Board homework: members to share the Open Space and Recreation Plan survey link.

Meeting Transcript

All right. So this is the Great Barrington Planning Board meeting for what is today, October 9th. And we'll do a roll call. Oh, this meeting is being recorded. Is anyone else recording the meeting? Okay. Great. So we will do roll call attendance, Malcolm. Jeremy? Jackie? Jonathan? Here. Brandy here. Okay, great. We'll move on to formes. There are none as I understand. Okay. Next item. Um are our minutes from our last meeting, September 25th. Do we have a motion to approve? Yes. So thank you. Do we have a second? Second. Thank you, Malcolm. We have a motion and a second. Are there any discussion on the minutes? Any further discussion? Okay. Uh hearing none, all in favor. Aye. Any opposed? All right. Great. We'll move on to our first order of uh regular business, uh special permit review, review and recommendation to the zoning board of appeals for the special permit application from Catherine and Trevor Hurst, 134 Fairview, Monterey Mass to demolish an existing non-conforming home on a non-conforming lot at 23 Rosseter Street, Fred Barrington, Massachusetts, and erect new residential structures on the same lot. We held a site visit on this at 5 30. Mr. Minnesota, do you want to come up here? Um we are on Zoom for this meeting. We have nobody participation. There's nobody online. Okay. So if you could just for the record give your names, and then if you could just talk us through what you share uh at the site visit just for the benefit of the folks that are here in the room. Okay. My name is Trevor Hurst. And my name is Catherine Hurst. And we want to demolish an existing building and put two buildings in its place with each two units in them. Compact residential units, rental units.

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