Town of Lenox, Massachusetts

Town of Lenox Annual Town Report - 2008
REPORT OF THE LAND USE DEPARTMENT
To the Honorable Board of Selectmen and Citizens of Lenox:
The Land Use Department, staffed by the Town Planner and Land Use Clerk, is
responsible for providing professional planning assistance to the Town Manager,
Board of Selectmen, Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals, Conservation
Commission, Historic District Commission, Affordable Housing Committee and
Community Preservation Act Committee. Additionally the Land Use Department
works with the Building Inspector to assist in interpreting the Zoning Bylaws and
provides customer service to citizens relating to land use permits.
Notable projects under the guidance of the Land Use Department in 2008 were:
1. The re-condification of the Zoning Bylaws. Coordinated the comprehensive
review of the Zoning Bylaws with Attorney Mark Bobrowski. Attorney Bobrowski
is a professor of law at the New England School of Law in Boston and has a
practice in land use law based in Concord, Massachusetts. He is the author of the
Handbook of Massachusetts Land Use and Planning Law. The re-codification was
adopted at a Special Town Meeting on April 15, 2008.
2. Organized the Affordable Housing Committee effort to prepare a Housing Production
Plan (HPP). The HPP is an important planning tool that allows the town to set local
housing goals to fulfill the state mandate that all communities in Massachusetts provide
10% of its housing stock to individuals and families who are low and moderate income.
The committee received a Peer to Peer grant from the Department of Housing and
Community Development to develop the implementation strategy section of the plan.
The committee found the greatest need in Lenox is for ownership opportunities for
moderate income families. A moderate income family is defined by state law as one
that is at 80% of median household income for the Berkshire County region. Moderate
income for a family of four in Lenox is $51,840.
3. Worked with the Planning Board and Affordable Housing Committee to prepare a
draft Inclusionary Zoning Bylaw , a planning tool that requires and encourages
developers to create new affordable housing opportunities. It is anticipated that
this bylaw will be brought to a Special Town Meeting in 2009.
4. Researched, prepared and submitted grant applications.
5. Finalized the Community Preservation Committee Plan and organized a successful
grant application process. The Committee received ten grant applications and
recommended to Town Meeting that seven projects be funded. Town Meeting
approved the projects as recommended.
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