Reason Gone Mad (Page 5)

As Great Barrington Airport ignores some special-permit conditions, the town's government takes no action

Some requirements related to the environment, taxes, emergency response, and others remain unmet—highlighting zoning-enforcement challenges in the Berkshires.

By Bill Shein

/ 22 Dec 2023

As Great Barrington Airport ignores some special-permit conditions, the town's government takes no action

NOTED: In Alford, a vote to cloud transparency is defended with ‘raised voices’

Another small-town Select Board votes to end hybrid in-person-and-remote participation for its meetings. Two members didn't like a question about their decision.

By Bill Shein

/ 15 Dec 2023

NOTED: In Alford, a vote to cloud transparency is defended with ‘raised voices’

Mason Library gets its 'Beauty Day'

With help from a trio of interior designers, and funding from the nonprofit Friends of Great Barrington Libraries, the downtown library's historic reading room gets a worthy overhaul.

By Bill Shein

/ 12 Dec 2023

FOLLOW UP (Part Two): Nearly two years on, a 'landscape hotel' is rising at Egremont's Prospect Lake

Long-sought parking and lake access for Egremont residents are both connected to an agreement for dam-repair funds. Whether—and how—that will work, and what it will mean in practice, is complicated.

By Bill Shein

/ 8 Dec 2023

FOLLOW UP (Part Two): Nearly two years on, a 'landscape hotel' is rising at Egremont's Prospect Lake

FOLLOW UP (Part One): Nearly two years on, a 'landscape hotel' is rising at Egremont's Prospect Lake

At the former campground, a zoning disagreement is escalating while questions linger about public parking, lake access, and vital dam repairs. An occupancy-tax windfall is also on the horizon.

By Bill Shein

/ 30 Nov 2023

FOLLOW UP (Part One): Nearly two years on, a 'landscape hotel' is rising at Egremont's Prospect Lake

Land Court case against Great Barrington and its airport is withdrawn

A few questions remain, but the airport now has some legal protection against neighbors' complaints that it has sought since 2017.

By Bill Shein

/ 1 Jun 2023

Land Court case against Great Barrington and its airport is withdrawn

ROUGH DRAFT: Quick hits of local housing news from a reporter's notebook

The Marble Block has been sold, but not to an affordable-housing organization, and other tidbits from a larger Argus story-in-progress.

By Bill Shein

/ 24 May 2023

ROUGH DRAFT: Quick hits of local housing news from a reporter's notebook

THE AIRPORT (Part Eight): The arc of Great Barrington’s zoning history is long. With respect to the airport, which way does it bend?

In the final installment of THE AIRPORT, a detailed history of Great Barrington’s zoning bylaw and its role in the past, present, and still unknown future of the town’s 92-year-old country airport.

By Bill Shein

/ 20 May 2023

THE AIRPORT (Part Eight): The arc of Great Barrington’s zoning history is long. With respect to the airport, which way does it bend?