Great Barrington Planning Board Approves Fairview Hospital Addition and Restaurant Site Plan

LENOX -- April 9, 2026, Great Barrington Planning Board unanimously clears Fairview Hospital expansion and former Shiro restaurant renovation. The board voted 5-0 on each action at its April 9 meeting, approving a site plan for Berkshire Health Systems' addition to Fairview Hospital at 2729 Lewis Avenue, a Critical Access Hospital licensed for 25 beds whose Zoning Board of Appeals special permit was already in hand, and a separate site plan for a new hibachi and sushi restaurant at 105 Stockbridge Road, the former Shiro space being renovated by the Jay-Z Group. The hospital approval came with conditions requiring a revised plant list confirming no invasive species and updated lighting details confirming compliance with the bylaw's 15-foot pole-height limit, a point member Jonathan Hankin pressed after a plan detail appeared to show 30-foot bases. The restaurant approval required the applicant to demonstrate sufficient parking, resolved when contractor Jeffrey Pierce located deed language granting a permanent easement for not fewer than 22 additional spaces on an adjacent parcel, and to plant one small tree in the Route 7 landscape buffer. The board also accepted without prejudice the withdrawal of a special permit for a commercial-scale solar facility at 53 Van Dusenville Road.