OpenPublica

Accountability starts with access.

© 2026 · Filed for the public record

Use casesAboutAPIPrivacyTermsLinkedIn
Home/Great Barrington, Massachusetts/Selectboard & Town Boards
OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Great Barrington Planning Board Regular Meeting - September 24, 2026

Selectboard & Town Boards — Thursday, September 24, 2026
BodyGreat Barrington, Massachusetts
SessionSelectboard & Town Boards
DateThursday, September 24, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:15:00

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

Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.

Unassigned speaker

0:00

All

Speaker 1

0:00

right.

Speaker 2

0:01

Six o'clock.

0:02

So we'll bring

Speaker 1

0:02

the Great Barrington Planning Board meeting for Thursday, September 24th to order.

0:07

This being is being reported.

0:08

Is anyone else reporting?

0:12

If you're on line and you're recording, I guess just uh raise your hand there.

0:20

Um so we'll do uh roll call attendance are blue and though.

Speaker 3

0:27

Here.

Speaker 1

0:27

Thank you.

0:28

Pantro Pitchano.

Speaker 3

0:29

Present.

Speaker 1

0:30

Jeremy Inga.

Speaker 3

0:31

Here

Speaker 1

0:31

Jackie Kane.

Speaker 2

0:32

Here.

Speaker 1

0:34

Still here.

0:35

Brandy Nelson here.

0:37

All right.

0:38

We're all here and present and accounted for.

0:40

Next item on the agenda is the approval of the minutes from our September 10th meeting.

0:45

Do we have a motion to approve and

Speaker 2

0:48

amended?

0:48

So move.

Speaker 1

0:50

Second, second branch I need discussion on the minutes.

0:54

All in favor?

0:57

All right.

0:58

Excellent.

0:58

Move on to item number three, Green River watershed plan.

1:02

Looks like are you here also from Greenwich?

1:06

You are Green River.

Speaker 2

1:07

I

Speaker 1

1:07

am.

1:10

Excellent.

1:10

If you could just give us your name, sir.

Speaker 4

1:13

Absolutely.

1:13

My name is Eric Reardon with the Housatonic Valley Association.

1:17

Great.

1:20

It's a pleasure to be with you here this evening.

1:23

I appreciate Chris giving a little bit of time on the agenda so I could share some information about some of our conservation planning efforts for the Green River subwatershed.

1:33

So Housatonic Valley Association, for folks who might not be familiar, we're a three-state watershed association.

1:40

We work across the whole 2,000 square mile Husatonic watershed.

1:44

We have an office out of Cornwall Bridge, Northwest Connecticut.

1:48

We have an office out of Pittsfield.

1:50

I run our programming in the Berkshires.

1:53

And for the past two years or so, we've deployed a lot of effort to try to plan at the watershed scale for the Green River for climate resilience, for protecting and promoting biodiversity.

2:08

And it's been a great effort that's yielded a lot of interesting project opportunities that I wanted to bring to the planning board.

2:15

I did uh give a very similar presentation to the conservation commission and um Kate there suggested, oh, maybe the planning board would be interested in hearing about some of these efforts and how this could maybe figure into your long-term planning agenda for the town as well.

2:31

Um so I have some slides to share here.

2:34

So really our watershed scale planning effort is an effort to integrate conservation priorities and river restoration opportunities across the Green River watershed, which is a tributary of the Housatonic River watershed.

2:50

Umologies if this is familiar information for folks in this room, but I don't like to assume too much prior knowledge.

2:57

But Green River is a watershed across two states with its headwaters in Columbia Canyon, New York, at Beebe Hill State Forest and Harvey Mountain State Forest.

3:08

It is a Huck 12 subwatershed of the Husatonic River.

3:12

It has tremendous environmental and conservation value, especially for an organization like HVA.

3:18

Um it is

Speaker 5

3:19

HUC 12.

Speaker 4

3:20

Um hydrological unit code.

3:22

It is a USGS um sort of uh way of classifying the size of a watershed.

3:28

So HUC 12 would be a sort of common subwatershed of a larger drainage like um the Husatonic River.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Environmental Protection███████████████████████████████████████████43%
Zoning And Land Use██████████████████████22%
Water And Wastewater Management█████████████████17%
Affordable Housing█████5%
Procedural████4%
Engineering And Infrastructure███3%
Public Engagement██2%
Economic Development██2%
Agriculture█1%
Summary of Proceedings

Great Barrington Planning Board Regular Meeting - September 24, 2026

The Great Barrington Planning Board met on Thursday, September 24, 2026, at 6:00 PM. All board members were present. The agenda included approval of prior meeting minutes, a presentation on the Green River Watershed Plan, discussions on zoning amendments (Campus Overlay District and proposed hotel room cap removal), scheduling of a public hearing, and board member concerns.

Consent Calendar

  • Approval of Minutes: The minutes from the September 10, 2026 meeting were moved, seconded, and unanimously approved without discussion.

Green River Watershed Plan Presentation

  • Speaker: Eric Reardon, Housatonic Valley Association (HVA)
  • Overview: Reardon presented the results of a watershed-scale planning effort for the Green River subwatershed, a tributary of the Housatonic River. He described the watershed's high conservation and recreational value but also significant challenges: periodic E. coli exceedances, geomorphic instability (incised channels, bank erosion, lack of riparian buffers), and a draft listing as impaired for E. coli under Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act.
  • Watershed Plan: A nine-element watershed-based plan approved by MassDEP recommends project categories including riparian buffer restoration, agricultural best management practices (e.g., manure application setbacks, stormwater management), floodplain reconnection, wetland restoration, stormwater green infrastructure, and low-impact development.
  • Geomorphic Assessment: A phase one geomorphic assessment identified channel straightening and inadequate riparian buffers as major contributors to instability. Reardon showed aerial images of channel straightening, sedimentation, and bank erosion.
  • Funding & Projects: Funding sources include EPA Section 319 nonpoint source grants and Massachusetts 604B planning grants. HVA is developing a bioengineering project near the Great Barrington/Egremont border to restore floodplain connectivity and stabilize banks. Another project on Division Street aims to address Williams River migration toward the road.
  • Board Discussion: Members inquired about landowner incentives (tax abatements, conservation easements, NRCS programs), coordination with town-owned land, potential zoning tools (e.g., fluvial erosion hazard zones used in Vermont), and impacts on fish and wildlife habitat. Members noted that most of the Green River's challenges are anthropogenic.

Campus Overlay District (Section 9.15)

  • Discussion: The board considered whether to bring draft amendments to Town Meeting. Members reported no feedback from Simon's Rock or potential developers. After discussion, the board agreed to defer any changes until a developer requests modifications, as the current district provides sufficient flexibility.

Hotel Room Cap Removal Proposal

  • Background: The Selectboard has proposed a zoning amendment for the October 19, 2026 Special Town Meeting to remove the 45-room hotel cap from Section 7.10. The Selectboard stated this aligns with their strategic plan to increase revenue.
  • Planning Board Action: Since a public hearing is required for any zoning amendment on the Town Meeting warrant, the board scheduled a special meeting on October 15, 2026 at 6:00 PM for the public hearing. The board will also discuss the matter at their regular meeting on October 8, 2026. The chair noted that the October 8 meeting already includes hotel room discussion.

Upcoming Applications

  • Special Permit for Events: To be considered at the October 8, 2026 meeting.
  • Physical Middle Revitalization District Proposal: A hearing is set for November 12, 2026.

Board Subcommittee Updates, Issues, and Concerns

  • Definitions for Structures: A board member proposed amending zoning definitions to exclude non-roofed structures (e.g., decks) from lot coverage calculations, arguing that covered decks impede drainage less than impervious surfaces. The board agreed to discuss further for potential inclusion in the May 2027 Town Meeting warrant.
  • Affordable Housing and Permanent Deed Restrictions: A member raised a discussion on the long-term effectiveness of permanent deed restrictions for subsidized homeownership, noting that such restrictions limit wealth-building and may affect the tax base. The board agreed to schedule a future discussion on this policy issue.

Key Outcomes

  • Minutes of September 10, 2026 approved.
  • Campus Overlay District: No further action; will respond to developer requests.
  • Hotel Cap Amendment: Public hearing set for October 15, 2026; board will meet October 8 to prepare.
  • Structure Coverage Amendment: To be discussed further for May 2027 Town Meeting.
  • Affordable Housing Discussion: To be scheduled.
  • No public comments were received during the meeting.

Meeting Transcript

All right. Six o'clock. So we'll bring the Great Barrington Planning Board meeting for Thursday, September 24th to order. This being is being reported. Is anyone else reporting? If you're on line and you're recording, I guess just uh raise your hand there. Um so we'll do uh roll call attendance are blue and though. Here. Thank you. Pantro Pitchano. Present. Jeremy Inga. Here Jackie Kane. Here. Still here. Brandy Nelson here. All right. We're all here and present and accounted for. Next item on the agenda is the approval of the minutes from our September 10th meeting. Do we have a motion to approve and amended? So move. Second, second branch I need discussion on the minutes. All in favor? All right. Excellent. Move on to item number three, Green River watershed plan. Looks like are you here also from Greenwich? You are Green River. I am. Excellent. If you could just give us your name, sir. Absolutely. My name is Eric Reardon with the Housatonic Valley Association. Great. It's a pleasure to be with you here this evening. I appreciate Chris giving a little bit of time on the agenda so I could share some information about some of our conservation planning efforts for the Green River subwatershed. So Housatonic Valley Association, for folks who might not be familiar, we're a three-state watershed association. We work across the whole 2,000 square mile Husatonic watershed. We have an office out of Cornwall Bridge, Northwest Connecticut. We have an office out of Pittsfield. I run our programming in the Berkshires. And for the past two years or so, we've deployed a lot of effort to try to plan at the watershed scale for the Green River for climate resilience, for protecting and promoting biodiversity. And it's been a great effort that's yielded a lot of interesting project opportunities that I wanted to bring to the planning board. I did uh give a very similar presentation to the conservation commission and um Kate there suggested, oh, maybe the planning board would be interested in hearing about some of these efforts and how this could maybe figure into your long-term planning agenda for the town as well. Um so I have some slides to share here.

SUMMARIZED BY OPENPUBLICA AI
TRANSCRIPT VIA PUBLIC VIDEO
openpublica.com