Berkshire County Historical Society Forest Bathing

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Join certified guide Kathleen Schoenberg for forest bathing.
 
Start your Sunday with a one-hour guided, stroll on the nature trail at Arrowhead on Sunday, Oct. 29, beginning at 11 am. 
 
The walk will be less than a mile and includes several breaks for meditation and mindful activities. 
 
Tickets are available at berkshirehistory.org: $25 for Berkshire County Historical Society members, and $30 for non-members. 
 
This event is sponsored by Greylock Federal Credit Union and the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
 
According to a press release, A forest bathing session is a two-hour, guided program designed to encourage mindfulness and facilitate the participant's deep connection with nature.  Participants have a wide range of experiences – they might find themselves feeling the textures of the trees and rocks, breathing in the scents of the forest, or lying under a canopy while being guided to activate their senses.   
 
choenberg is a graduate of The Forest Therapy School with experience leading both one-on-one and group walks.
 
"Melville was inspired by the landscapes of the Berkshires," said Schoenberg.  "He once wrote, ‘Nature is not so much her ever-sweet interpreter, as the mere supplier of that cunning alphabet, whereby selecting and combining as he pleases, each man reads his own peculiar lesson according to his own peculiar mind and mood.'  In many ways this describes Forest Bathing - participants give to and receive from the forest, and each participant will take away something completely different."

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Pittsfield Looks to Update Zoning for ADUs

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Accessory dwelling units will be by-right in early 2025 and the city wants to be prepared.

On Tuesday, the Community Development Board voted to become the petitioner for amendments to the City Code that reflect the new ADU legislation. City Planner Kevin Rayner has crafted a draft ordinance that the board will dig into before it goes to the City Council.

As a part of the $4.1 billion Affordable Homes Act signed into law over the summer, ADUs up to 900 square feet can be built by right in single-family zoning districts.

"This legislation will go into effect February 2, 2025, so we're trying to get our ordinance to accommodate ADUs by that point," Rayner said.

"Our ordinance wasn't prohibitive against accessory dwelling units, but we do need to up our dimensional requirements to kind of accommodate for them as they are, sort of like an accessory structure, in a way but they have some different requirements because they are being used as a dwelling."

The city plans to allow ADUs in a one- to two-family residential use, allowing for duplexes that meet other requirements to have one.

Most of the amendments will take place in Article 23 Section 9.101, which outlines restrictions for accessory buildings.  

"They're mostly dimensional. We're going to make it so that maybe you can't take up more than 20 percent of the lot coverage," Rayner said.

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