by Patrick White

Last Thursday, the Select Board placed $40,000 for Planning Board consultants on the town warrant by a 2-1 vote. I voted no. Here’s why.

For weeks, I have asked for a prioritized list of future bylaw revisions. We were given a vague presentation, not a prioritized list. How are the voters to know what they are funding?

I also have a problem with process. Our Town Administrator should manage outsourcing decisions, not a volunteer board. He should begin by determining whether we have the skills to address the issue with in-house staff (on salary) or Town Counsel (on retainer). This year, the SB wrote six bylaws this way, costing the taxpayers nothing.

Finally, I have serious concerns regarding the overall direction of these efforts. The NRPZ draft contains language that could be disastrous for every Stockbridge neighborhood. The proposed bylaw would replace the zoning for 2/3s of the town’s land mass.

For example, we already have a cluster bylaw on the books, but it allows the PB to permit a project only if it includes no more homes than would otherwise be allowed in a conventional subdivision. The proposed bylaw includes a provision whereby the PB could increase the unit density, without limit, by waiver (see section 1d).

Keep in mind, we have only had one subdivision in town in the past ten years! Simply put, there is no urgency here. Yet we’ve been fed a misleading narrative that our entire town is at risk, that the bylaws we have are somehow disastrous for conservation and open space. Use your eyes folks, these claims are ridiculous. Embracing by-right development will lead to more development. If that’s what voters want, fine, but let’s have an honest debate free from fear-mongering.

Is the threat imminent? We can easily test the theory: let’s wait to act until we’ve had a couple of “bad” subdivisions. Think of all the real problems we can address while we wait. And wait. And wait.

This should not be construed as anti-development. Informed analysis, good process and sound decisions are essential to a positive outcome.

Folks like Jack Spencer, Mary Flynn and many others wrote our current bylaws over many decades. Our bylaws have been enormously successful at protecting the character of Stockbridge—and the property values we enjoy. Stockbridge’s zoning isn’t broken. It does not need to be fixed.

Patrick White is a member of the Stockbridge Board of Selectmen.