Almost 300 residents gathered in the auditorium of Monument Mountain Regional High School to dispense with a 42-article warrant.
Only one of three challenges to the 2022 bylaw was accepted by voters. Articles 39, 40, and 41 all appeared on the warrant as citizens’ petitions. While the latter two were overwhelmingly rejected, 39 was passed on a 78-76 vote four and a half hours into the meeting when around half of the audience had already left. The measure will allow not only homeowners but renters to offer short-term rentals in Great Barrington. Planning board Vice Chair Pedro Pachano said that while he supported most of the existent bylaw, he backed amending it with Article 39.
“I think that law was well intentioned," he told WAMC. "But I think it's flawed. And I think that it's obvious that one was, I mean, like I've mentioned, anybody reading it and understanding that what it's saying is that people who don't own homes in town are not allowed to do the same things or aren't granted the same rights as those who are property owners. I think that's unfair, especially because renters are among the most vulnerable in our communities.”
Supporters of the bylaw argued that the community already went through an exhaustive process just a year ago to secure responsible short-term rental regulations.
“I'm absolutely disappointed. I absolutely think that rents will be raised. I think long-term rents will be raised. I had quite a few landlords express reservations about Article 39 being passed and the damage it could do to neighborhoods, and my fear was really for the tenants. I believe that by adding more short-term rentals that that's not going to solve our housing crisis. Turning a long-term rental into a short-term rental is not what we need right now. We need stronger neighborhoods, and we need people joining together as a community and turning their backs on Airbnb and people that want to commodify our communities. So, it was disappointing," said selectboard member Leigh Davis. “I'm happy about the other two articles. The town showed up for that, but 39, I'm worried about the tenants. I'm worried about rising long-term rents. And we're going to have to be really strong with the registration process and make sure that we cross-check not only property deeds but rental agreements and make sure that everyone's staying within the 150-day cap.”
Davis, who championed the passage of the bylaw last year, attended the meeting despite initially saying she would not due to a recent surgery.
The meeting, which ran from 6 to 11 p.m., also saw voters accept a zoning bylaw amendment aimed at encouraging housing development in one of the town’s main thoroughfares. Multi-unit residential developments that include at least 10% affordable housing for at least 20 years will no longer need a special permit from Great Barrington.
“B-2 basically is up and down Route 7 in Great Barrington, right down the commercial corridor," explained Pachano. "All we're trying to do is promote not just affordable housing, but housing. Pretty much any multifamily housing in town requires a special permit, which is a discretionary process, which, in my opinion, has failed our town. We've lost several projects to the process. And what I'm trying to do is to make it, just to eliminate one sort of ladder, or one step of the ladder to get a project approved, which is this discretionary process. I think it's a fair amendment or a fair bylaw that got passed, because there's still plenty of oversight. And in fact, they still have to come before the planning board. It just eliminates that one special permit, which again, is discretionary and leads to great uncertainty for developers.”
Pachano says the planning board will gather again in June to assess its successes and failures at town meeting before it prepares for its next moves.
“I love town meeting. I love this town," he told WAMC. "I think it's great. Everybody gets up and speaks their piece. I get energized by it. As far as what we're doing on the planning board, we're going to keep trying to push people to realize why or aspects of the process and town laws and the rest of it that are failing us it with regards to housing. It's a real priority for me, and the rest of the members of the planning board are with me on that.”
Voters also approved a roughly $14.7 million town operating budget and a $20 million Berkshire Hills Regional School District budget for fiscal year 2024.
