Select Board sends housing designation to fall vote

Select Board · Meeting of September 23, 2026

Lenox Select Board votes to send a "seasonal communities" housing designation to November's special town meeting. State Rep. Lee Davis and BRPC planner Brett Roberts told the board the designation unlocks a year-round housing trust serving households up to 250 percent of area median income, plus a property tax exemption of up to 50 percent, in exchange for zoning changes allowing undersized-lot development and 400-square-foot "tiny houses." Affordable Housing Trust chair Don Weber told the board "we all know you can't live in Lenox" without a mortgage on current incomes, with homes near $500,000 out of reach for many families.

Grants tied to the designation have run from roughly $50,000 to $78,000 for Berkshire towns already enrolled, including Great Barrington, Sheffield, West Stockbridge, Monterey and Williamstown. The board also seated two new Conservation Commission members and a Community Preservation Committee appointee, and adopted a non-voting associate-membership policy for the Conservation Commission.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 2,183 words

Source: the Select Board meeting of September 23, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.