Kevin Berry requests conditional use to convert Woodstock barn into one‑bedroom apartment

Kevin Berry presented application TDash0080Dash26 at a public hearing in Woodstock, asking the board for conditional‑use approval to convert part of an existing barn into a one‑bedroom apartment. Chair read the application into the record and asked Berry to summarize his proposal.

Berry said the barn already contains four apartments (the property has six units total) and that the conversion would turn roughly 625 square feet into a small one‑bedroom unit. "It's for conditional use to construct a 1 bedroom apartment inside the existing barn," the Chair read from the application. Berry said he and his business partner bought the property about 23 years ago and “brought it up to code.”

The applicant described the housing mix and argued the conversion helps keep housing costs down by using existing structures. "The only way to make it anywhere close to affordable is to use structures that we already have there," Berry said. He told the board there is existing parking that can be expanded if needed and that a new septic system sized for seven bedrooms has been designed to serve the property.

The Chair reviewed the conditional‑use criteria on the record — capacity of community facilities, character of the area as defined by the town plan, traffic impacts, conformity with bylaws and renewable‑energy considerations — and asked Berry to confirm compliance. Berry estimated traffic would increase by "one or two cars," noted the site is about 0.2 miles off Route 4, and said solar options had been explored but were not yet feasible.

A board member moved to close testimony and another seconded. The transcript records members calling for the ayes and at least one member saying "Aye." The board then proceeded to approve the minutes of the previous meeting and moved to deliberations on the application.