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The Pittsfield, Massachusetts city council embraced a new downtown zoning policy after a debate about affordable housing at its virtual meeting Tuesday night.
“We had heard for years about some of the concerns about around the ground floor uses, especially that are on North Street and South Street, and their lack of creation of pedestrian activity or street interest on the street to really try to try to provide a cohesive neighborhoods and cohesive downtown Some of the suburban uses that are really parking dominated in the urban renewal area, specifically on the West Street, Center Street area. And that there are a lot of historic buildings that we want to encourage, reuse. And understand that some of our regulations don t necessarily hinder but can really slow down projects.”
PITTSFIELD â A new zoning district that planners developed to help revitalize the cityâs core passed the muster of a City Council subcommittee Monday.
The proposal to create the Downtown Creative District aims to encourage mixed-use development with a focus on the arts economy, and increase residential units to help address a local housing crunch. The subcommittee on Ordinance and Rules recommended the ordinance favorably back to the full City Council for approval, with councilors Nicholas Caccamo, Pete White, Earl Persip III, Patrick Kavey and Anthony Maffuccio throwing their support behind the plan.
By specifying design standards for those buildings and allowable uses according to location, City Planner C.J. Hoss said the regulations would spell out for developers the types of projects the city hopes to see downtown.
A more vibrant downtown? Pittsfield says proposed zoning could move the needle forward berkshireeagle.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from berkshireeagle.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.