Housing Secretary Ed Augustus meets with the Seasonal Communities Advisory Council in Stockbridge after participating in a housing panel on Community Television of the Southern Berkshires.

STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. — Eight Berkshire communities have more than 40 percent seasonal housing, warranting a designation from the state.

Housing Secretary Edward Augustus traveled to the Norman Rockwell Museum on Wednesday for the second meeting of the Seasonal Communities Advisory Council. Stockbridge, Alford, Becket, Hancock, Monterey, Mount Washington, Otis, and Tyringham have this designation, as established in the Affordable Homes Act.

Earlier this week, each of the 25 designated "seasonal" communities received a notification letter. Local legislative bodies will have to approve the designation.

Augustus said he is "open-minded" and doesn't have preconceived notions about the effort to create tools to address the unique housing needs of communities that experience substantial variation in seasonal employment.  

"I think our goal is to get, hopefully, all of the 25 that were listed in the statute to accept that designation, to figure out the criteria by which we might invite some additional communities to get that designation and have them do that process," he explained.

"And then to get regulations that put in place the mechanism for using the tools that are identified in the statute, some of which I just mentioned, as well as starting to explore what other tools we might want to identify."

Communities in this designation can prefer housing for municipal workers, establish trust funds to preserve affordable housing for residents and artists, create housing needs assessments, allow tiny homes by right and increase property tax exemptions for primary residences. 

Of the more than 43,000 registered short-term rentals in Massachusetts, Berkshire County has about 1,800. Most second homes are in South County, several communities having between 60 percent and 85 percent. The Berkshires have a higher seasonal employment ratio than central Mass, with several communities having a ratio of 1.5-2 and higher.

The county's area median income ranges from $100,000 to $110,000 for a four-person family while the average home in South County costs several hundred thousand dollars.