Chair says BRPC proposal and housing production plan will be revisited after key members return

At a hybrid meeting of town officials in Stockbridge, the group approved the minutes by voice vote and agreed to postpone action on a proposal from the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission until key members can attend.

Chair (S1) opened the meeting and reminded attendees it was being recorded "pursuant to MTL chapter 3 a section 20 f." and that public speakers must receive permission from the chair. After a brief procedural exchange, a motion to approve the minutes was moved and seconded and carried on a voice vote.

The meeting then turned to a BRPC proposal S1 said had been circulated to the trust. "I was expecting Brett today, and he couldn't make it," the chair said, presenting three options: table the item until BRPC can speak, discuss and defer, or discuss and act now. Several members favored tabling and agreed to pick up the item next month when Jan and Mark can participate.

Much of the meeting focused on possible land acquisitions and constraints. Participants discussed multiple potential sites, including parcels near Route 102, the former school site on East Street (about 13 acres), and properties adjacent to the pipe. Members noted topography and contamination issues at some sites and that parts of the landscape are protected by the land trust around Echo Lake, the town's water source. One participant observed that the Pinewoods property has seen recent investment and renovations and said land (rather than buildings) may be a more feasible acquisition for the trust.

On the housing production plan (HPP), staff and members said the HPP had been sent to the state after planning-board and select-board review but remains in PDF form. S5, who works on the project, said, "We did get the grant," and that the seasonal-communities work was hoped to be finished this summer. Members asked who holds the editable Word file for the plan; the group said Jan retains the document and will add properties identified by the trust.

Members debated trade-offs between preserving Stockbridge's character and creating housing supply. One member cautioned that, as a tourism-dependent town, excessive density could change the town's character; others urged pursuing smaller infill projects across town rather than concentrating many units in a single location. Participants repeatedly raised infrastructure costs (bringing water, blasting ledge) as a limiting factor; as one member put it, the expense of making small parcels buildable can make affordable housing infeasible without much larger development.

The chair also addressed data used to estimate the share of full-time residents, saying they had cross-referenced assessor and voter records and "wrote a program in with AI to do that." Another member asked to review that dataset to reconcile it with assessments produced by Michael Blais.

The meeting closed with a plan to resume the BRPC discussion next month when key members return, and with members urging quicker action to acquire affordable properties in a competitive local market. No formal acquisition motions were approved; next steps identified were to gather additional property leads, ensure the HPP Word file is consolidated, and reconvene with Jan and Mark present.

The board moved to adjourn at the meeting's close.