Development affects schools, families
Editor’s note: The following is the third of three parts of a special Devil’s Advocate series concerning the controversy over development in Williamstown. To read the entire three-part series on development, visit blogtheberkshires.com.
By DAVE FEHR
In that juicy Clark Art Institute/WACC/Sweetwood/Greylock H.S./Phelps Knoll Water Line Brouhaha of a few years ago, the specter was raised of Route 7 south becoming another Route 2 east.
That wasn’t about to happen, water line extension or not. Williamstown simply isn’t that big. The population has been around 8,000 (including 2,000 Williams students) forever, but at least it isn’t shrinking like most of the county. Probably we could attract more families with young children if they could find affordable housing, but seemingly there’s a limit to that possibility, too.
Where would they work? Williams? OK, but the college, while still growing, isn’t growing exponentially, and you can probably say the same thing about the Clark. Williams grads “coming home” to live, full or part-time, do form a market for mostly high-end real estate, and they certainly pump money into our economy, but that, too, has a limit. The college has published the number of grads living here several times over the years, and I recall it being between 200 and 300 each time. In May, I was told by the college that there were 294 alumni residing in Williamstown, including those with primary and seasonal homes. That’s not 294 houses, either, because some of these alums are married to each other.
In any case, a nice market — but not a huge one.
At the time the Bee Hill controversy began, Realtor Paul Harsch wrote a letter to the local papers pointing out that there was a limit to how fast the town would grow. There won’t be many Bee Hills or Northwest Hills in our future, even if the approvals are finally granted and the courts rule in favor of the developers, because the developers will have trouble selling that many new lots. In the 80s, I was stunned to read that one year there were only (ITAL) three (ITAL) new homes built in Williamstown. Along with most of the nation, we’re in a real estate recession and recent articles have claimed that the inventory of unsold property was double the norm.
We’ve all seen the “WILLIAMSTOWN LAND BARGAINS” ads in the papers and the “LAND PRICES SLASHED!” signs around town. The local market will eventually improve, but when it does the current trickle won’t turn into a torrent because the demand is insufficient.
An interesting test of demand is the Sweet Farm subdivision off Henderson Road; that project has been around for four or five years, since well before the market turned south. A few months ago, I drove up to have a look. Nice paved road, town water and sewer (fully developer-installed), great views from at least some of the lots. A sign indicates 18 building lots; six were “unavailable” (presumably sold), leaving 12 lots ranging from 1.5 to 11.4 acres for sale. But here’s what really surprised me: In all that time, just one house has been built, and that had a “For Sale” sign out front.
A second test of demand, this of a far different sort, will be the Cable Mills condos on Water Street, which will include 61 new residential units, including 12 designated as “affordable.” Those will be downtown, on the water and sewer lines, where everybody would like to see expansion take place. Let’s say that finally happens and the housing is attractive (well-designed, well-constructed, roomy, fairly priced). Will they sell? My guess is yes, and here the timing may be fortuitous, because by the time they come online, the real estate recession may well have ended.
In May, the New York Times, in their Friday Escape section, featured Williamstown as their “Haven” (second homes). It captured the town pretty well, including its pros and cons, and they actually call them that. They quoted Mr. Harsch regarding development: “Williamstown is highly protected from development. In Florida and Colorado, the subdivisions are springing up like flowers or weeds, depending on your perspective. That’s not going to happen here. There are zoning restrictions, topographical restrictions and limited sewer service. The town is going to change very little, and the people here like it that way.”
Fair enough. So, if I’m right, and Harsch is right, development will always be slow in The Village Beautiful. Projects will be proposed and some of them defeated (just please don’t use phony statistics or purple prose in the battle), and what does get approved may or may not sell. What does this mean for the economic well-being of the town and its institutions?
It will be a constant struggle for the town — which isn’t as rich as some people think — and the schools. Can we override Proposition 2.5 every few years to get the necessary funding? Maybe, but it’s a tough sell. Some people say they can barely afford to live here as it is, so a 6 percent or greater tax increase every few years could push them over the edge. Will we balance the budget only by employing Death by a Thousand Cuts? Not pretty, and the result would be unsatisfying. Will we have to resort to restructuring, as industry often does, take an axe to town and school costs and effectively start over? Even less pretty, and the political pressure against that type of action would be prohibitive.
Those are the primary choices, along with new money resulting from economic development. The choices involving increased taxes are hard to come by; the choices involving significant budget cuts will result in layoffs and a reduction of services, and a falloff in the quality of the schools.
It’s the schools I worry most about, especially Mt. Greylock. If our schools deteriorate, the town will follow. It’s hard for an outsider (no school-age kids) to know how good our public schools are, since we basically know only what we read and hear, and those reports have been conflicting. Just a few years ago, Mt. Greylock was being bashed in the press, including, interestingly, by some members of the school’s administration, along with some of the teachers. Just last spring, a school committee member refused to vote to approve the Greylock budget, saying that she thought it inadequate to maintain quality programs.
On the other hand, the fiscal 2008 budget was proposed and approved without rancor; the school administration, school committee, finance committee, town management and town meeting all came to agreement on a Greylock budget with a 0.5 percent year-to-year increase, resulting in a 3.46 percent assessment increase to Williamstown and 5.47 percent increase to Lanesboro. (It was made clear, however, that the long-term funding issues remained unsolved, that new sources of funding must soon be found, or costs would have to be substantially cut.) An additional positive note is that MGRHS recently won a national award.
So, do we have a quality high school, or not? I don’t know, but if it continues to be starved for money, the answer to that question will almost certainly be “no.”
The town should receive a nice boost from Cable Mills. That should generate nearly $500,000 in yearly property tax revenues and house 150 or so new people; it is shaping up to be a real winner. Another boost will come from the assisted living facility to be built at the Photech site on Cole Avenue; in addition to property taxes, that will involve about 30 new jobs while providing a needed service to our graying town. Another winner. But these projects are developing slowly (Cable Mills had a setback which shut things down for well over a year) and, as Yogi Berra would say, they’re not finished until they’re finished. If Charles Fox wins on Bee Hill, and houses are finally built, that will certainly help as well.
Northwest Hill? The neighbors retain their unblemished views (albeit at a price), the developers make a profit without incurring further risk (hmm ... I sense a business opportunity here), there’s a bit more land in conservation, Williams College buys 10 more acres to add to the King Ranch-sized parcels it already owns, and the salamanders can breath easier.
But nothing’s in it for the town ... and that is something worth thinking about.
Dave Fehr writes Devil’s Advocate every now and then for The Advocate. Send feedback to news@advocateweekly.com.