Pittsfield planners approve 4 requests 2 changes allowed in town ordinance

PITTSFIELD – In a 26-minute meeting, Pittsfield planners Monday night approved two ordinance changes, a site review for new construction and approved a conditional use.

The planning board approved an application by Merlin Lasselle to convert a former office to a home on South Main Street. Lasselle said the buildings are the former Starbird Construction complex and he wants to convert an office building at the rear of the property to a home for himself.

He also said he would be doing small repairs to the garage structure to create business incubator space or garage space that would be available to lease.

Since approval would create a residential lot in a commercial zone, Planner Mark Lagross asked if there were other lots in town in the same situation.

Code Enforcement Officer Claude Rounds said there were several on Somerset and Hartland avenues.

The second approval went to Randall Roberts of Unity, who, with his son Joshua Roberts, plans to add two additional self-storage units to his South Main Street facility. Roberts said he planned to build the first unit in the spring and the second as business warranted. He also said he plans “to clean up” around an old foundation on the site.

The ordinance changes began with the re-establishment of the nonconforming use designation in land use regulations. The change refers only to buildings that cannot be reasonably converted to a conforming use. Rounds told the planning board members that there are several structures in Pittsfield that fall into this category, including a poultry barn on North Main Street, Waverly mill, a milk plant on Outer Hartland Avenue and the former Redmond’s Pet Kare manufacturing plant.

The second change involved permitting the conversion of certain residential buildings into multifamily housing. Barry Brooks prompted the request, asking to turn his two-family Chalmers Street home into a three-family residence.

Rounds told the board that at least 42 very large homes in Pittsfield would be able to be converted under the change, if the owners wanted.

All four votes were unanimous.