WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Though its work is not completed for the proposals it hopes to bring to this spring's annual town meeting, the Planning Board recently started talking about an idea it wants to work on for the 2023-24 cycle.
Ken Kuttner and Roger Lawrence at the board's January meeting gave their colleagues a presentation on the concept of cottage courts and suggested a bylaw could be crafted to allow that style of housing in town.
Cottage courts are relatively small clusters of homes, typically 500 to 800 square feet, grouped together on a single residential lot.
"They're not 'tiny houses,' " Kuttner said. "Typically, they're single family but sometimes duplexes. … One of the distinguishing features is they have a common area, sometimes a community building. You can get densities of maybe 10 to 15 dwelling units per acre, which is pretty good."
The concept of cottage courts, also known as "pocket neighborhoods," has been explored elsewhere in the commonwealth as a potential solution to local shortages of affordable housing. Kuttner talked about successes with the model around the country and noted that the concept was utilized in California in the early 20th century.
Kuttner said while not necessarily "affordable housing," in the sense of income-restricted homes, the market-rate cottage court homes might be a more affordable alternative.
"In theory, they should be [attainable] thanks to small lots, small structures and economies of scale from building multiple units at the same time," Kuttner said.
"Suppose we allowed manufactured homes and cottage courts. You could imagine synergies between the two. That would be something where you could achieve some real cost savings."
One of the warrant articles the board has been working on to send to May's annual town meeting would allow manufactured homes, by right, on single-unit lots in the town's residential districts.
Lawrence pointed out that the cottage court housing, if allowed, could be developed in a cooperative ownership structure.
"If folks who wanted to live in small homes wanted to pool their resources, they could gain an efficiency of scale," Lawrence said.
Town Planner Andrew Groff advised the board that the cooperative ownership structure is allowed by right already in the commonwealth and not a local zoning consideration that would need to be addressed in the town's bylaw.
The cottage court concept would require a zoning change, primarily to address the density restrictions in the bylaw.
Kuttner showed the board a sample ordinance from Langley, Wash., that allows, "one dwelling unit per two 2,904 square feet of lot area (15 units per acre)." The Washington city's ordinance also caps the unit size in the pocket neighborhood, requires minimum common areas and mandates that parking be screened.
The board agreed that he and Lawrence should begin drafting a proposed bylaw for Williamstown that the board could take up at some point in the next few months and begin developing for the 2024 annual town meeting.
As for this year's town meeting, the board in January worked on hammering out the language for an FAQ document to inform residents about the proposals the panel does plan to bring as warrant articles. It also talked about other modes of outreach the board can employ in advance of the May meeting.
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Waubeeka Plans Glowball Tournament for Charity
By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Golfers will light up the night sky and support a charity that helps underserved communities around the world at Waubeeka Golf Links this week.
Waubeeka will host a Glowball Tournament on Saturday, Aug. 17, from 7 to 10 p.m., to benefit Hope International, a Pennsylvania-based Christian charity dedicated to sharing "the hope of Christ as we provide biblically based training, savings services, and loans that restore dignity and break the cycle of poverty."
Chris Kapiloff, who purchased the golf course earlier this year, has firsthand experience with Hope International, having picked and roasted coffee beans alongside residents of Rwanda on a visit with his family in 2019.
"Hope International is a phenomenal organization," Kapiloff said this week. "My wife and I really like supporting organizations that help children. There are lots of good organizations with lots of good causes, organizations that help people who can't help themselves.
"Hope does an amazing job helping people who can work, who can be creative with just a small break and be amazing. Hope provides banking to people who live in the middle of nowhere, who normally don't have access to banking. It provides training for small businesses."
Founded in 1997, the non-denominational charity fosters economic development in two dozen countries in Latin America, Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe.
Hope International offers mentoring, training and loans to help people in developing nations launch or expand their businesses.
Golfers will light up the night sky and support a charity that helps underserved communities around the world at Waubeeka Golf Links this week. click for more
Williams College will be back before the Zoning Board of Appeals on Thursday for a development plan review for the school's planned art museum at the Field Park rotary.
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The Milne Library's Building and Grounds Committee on Thursday recommended that the director move ahead with several repairs to the building. click for more
The exhibit, "Edgar Degas: Multi-Media Artist in the Age of Impressionism," coincides with the 150th anniversary of the first impressionist exhibition, which was held in Paris in 1874.
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