The company behind the Tourists resort on Route 2 wants to extend a city business zone to cover a residential home it purchased adjacent to the hotel at 935 State Street.
City council President Bryan Sapienza read out a communication from Planning Board Chair Brian Miksic:
“Please be advised that the North Adams planning board during the joint public hearing meeting on April 9th, 2024 voted, to recommend that the North Adams City Council adopt the petition of Centerville Sticks LLC to amend the zoning map by expanding and extending westerly to Rickard Street the present B2 district on State Road so as to rezone all of assessor’s map 95, lot 40 as zone District B2," read Sapienza. "Sincerely, Brian Miksic, chairman, North Adams Planning Board.”
During the open mic portion of Tuesday’s meeting, a neighbor of Tourists spoke out against the move.
“When Tourists was constructed years ago, we attended city meetings regarding their plans. The final construction of the building differed considerably to what had been relayed to us and we certainly had not anticipated the hotel being directly on top of us in our backyard. We are certainly not here today to dwell on the past yet trying to raise the point as to how plans can change and how this zoning change could directly have an impact on us and the neighborhood atmosphere that we are currently used to," said Paula Malloy, who lives directly next to 935 State Street. “We purchased our home on Rickard Street 22 years ago. And part of what drew us to this location was the quiet and welcoming neighborhood that we thoroughly enjoy. In addition, we have made significant investment in our home to create a space that we enjoy coming home to and certainly did not anticipate that in our future we could put initially be surrounded by additional commercial property, we are asking you today to please give much consideration to this zoning change, as once this property is commercially zoned, it will drastically change the current residential neighborhood environment that we have enjoyed for the past 22 years.”
Ted Briggs, another Rickard Street resident, also expressed misgivings about the move.
“One of the things that I'm concerned about is if that change goes through and the person decides to raise that house that's there, what sort of structure could be built there and what sort of businesses could be put in place there, as well as, is this going to create a domino effect of zoning changes from Rickard Street to Ashton?” he asked the council.
“I have serious reservations about making this change," said city council vice president Ashley Shade. "And I believe we should get a legal opinion from our solicitor before making such a move. Because I still see this as spot zoning where you're taking one particular lot of residential land and changing it over. It's one lot in a neighborhood- That is the definition of spot zoning. So, I still see that a spot zoning, which is not allowed, and I don't feel comfortable voting on this until we have an opinion from the solicitor telling us otherwise.”
The council adopted an amendment to the original petition that would include the city solicitor’s opinion on potential legal outcomes of the move.
The zoning change, which will ultimately require a two-thirds majority from the council for acceptance, moved forward to a second reading with Sapienza and Shade in opposition. Councilors Peter Breen and Wayne Wilkinson abstained from both discussing and voting on the issue citing conflict of interest concerns.
The North Adams city council is expected to pick up the proposed zoning ordinance amendment at its May 28th meeting.
