Letter: Zoning Changes Will Have Cumulative Effects
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To the Editor:
What might the cumulative effects be of the Williamstown Planning Board's proposed warrant articles to be voted on at town meeting?
The former chair of the Planning Board stated that breaking their proposal into multiple articles would allow residents to vote on the merits of each specific change to the bylaws. While this approach seems considerate, it also masks two crucially important aspects overall: the broad scope of the proposed changes across many bylaws; and the cumulative effects of these changes if passed.
The Planning Board has put forward 10 warrant articles total. Contrary to claims of only "tweaking around the margins," these articles encompass many and, in some cases, radical changes affecting nearly everyone in town.
Let's consider only Articles 40, 41, 43, and 46. Article 40 would allow 3-4 unit dwellings in General Residence by right, but fails to call attention to the fact that it would also allow the same in the Southern Gateway (along Cold Springs Road). Article 41 will remove several barriers to dense development in Rural Residence zones 2 and 3. Article 43 proposes several radical changes, including increasing the number of allowable units per parcel (although the exact wording would allow up to 24 units "per group" per parcel, and there are no bylaw limits to the number of allowable groups other than dimensional requirements). Article 46 would change the scope of consideration for extending public utilities past undeveloped parcels.
The Southern Gateway exists to "protect the scenic southern entrance to Williamstown from overdevelopment while also ensuring the viability of existing businesses and residences." Rural Residence 2 and 3 exist "for typical rural uses with which single-family homes are compatible. …. [and] is intended to provide for the protection and preservation of special community service districts from the dangers of development," respectively.
If passed, the four articles above can be combined to not only allow the extension of public utilities, the development of 3-4 unit dwellings, the clustering of up to 24 units per group with only dimensional limitations to the total number of possible groups, but could do so throughout the Southern Gateway and Rural Residence 2 and 3. This represents more than one-third of the town's total area, and a majority of its farmable land.
I strongly urge residents to understand the cumulative effects of these changes, and that the changes may only require a simple majority to pass at town meeting.
Cory Campbell
Williamstown, Mass.
