Town vote paves the way for new uses for closing Western Mass. college
After some back and forth, the town of Great Barrington passed a zoning proposal at a Saturday Town Meeting to add additional zoning to the closing Bard College at Simon's Rock campus.
While the nearly 275-acre campus is only zoned for educational purposes or for one-, two- or three-family homes, the planning board drafted a plan for additional uses by creating what's called a zoning overlay district encompassing the campus.
Bard College at Simon's Rock, which has been largely silent throughout the zoning overlay process, attended the meeting, voicing their support.
"I would just ask you all to consider also if we're restricted into having the sales group be largely populated by nonprofits — that doesn't accomplish anything and bring this onto the tax rolls. That window, that universe, narrows the more steps we add to this, which is why we're generally in favor of the zoning overlay," Taun Toay, chief financial officer of Bard College, said at the meeting.
"I see it as win-win for everybody and we want to leave the property in good stored hands. And the bigger that universe is that we can look at, the better we're able to do that," Toay said.
There was some pushback from a couple of residents. One raised concerns over protecting forested and wetland areas on campus and another asked to delay the vote due to not hearing about the proposed overlay district and wanting it to be vetted more.
However, the majority of residents, at least two-thirds, voted in favor of the overlay district.
"While we know little about how Bard plans to sell the campus, or who may be interested in buying it, the planning board recognizes the potential the campus has to improve the town's tax employment and residential bases, and that its existing athletic and performing arts facilities have become extremely important resources for our town," Jonathan Hankin, a member of the Great Barrington planning board, said at the meeting.
"Seeing that the residential zoning will be an obstacle to most potential reuses of the site, the board believes the applicable zoning needs to be more flexible to position the campus to take full advantage of this opportunity," Hankin said.
Which new uses are allowed, and which aren't
The approved uses in the drafted zoning overlay district for existing structures, which would begin May 3, 2025, include:
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up to eight multi-unit housing in new or existing structures
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assisted living residences
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live/work units
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co-living development
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community, educational or recreational uses such as museums, playgrounds, health clubs and gym or fitness centers and performing arts centers
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food or beverage facilities, including production, sale and/or consumption on site or off site of pre-prepared foods
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professional offices including medical offices
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retirement communities that provide residents, age 55 or older, with opportunities for independent living, assisted living, nursing care, rehabilitation and/or memory care
Four- to eight-unit multi-unit housing is allowed by special permit now. If the zoning overlay passes, more than eight units would be allowed by special permit in new structures and by right in existing structures.
Prohibited uses in the draft include:
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cemeteries
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golf or country clubs
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marijuana cultivation or manufacturing establishments
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public parking garages
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lumberyards
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large-scale commercial development
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motor vehicle fuel station and sales rooms
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aviation fields
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gravel/loam/sand/stone removal for commercial purposes
Uses that may be permitted by the proposed overlay with a special permit include hotels, motels or overnight cabins whether in existing or new structures, camping facilities, light manufacturing whether in existing or new structures, contractors and landscape yards and restaurants.
Why Bard is leaving Great Barrington
Bard College at Simon's Rock and Bard Academy announced in November that they would be closing the Great Barrington campus.
The academic programs are designed to provide college-level work for high-school-aged students. Students at Simon's Rock typically transfer to the school following 10th or 11th grade and receive college credit for their work there, according to the college's website . Bard Academy serves students in ninth and 10th grades.
The institutions will continue, relocating to Bard College's Massena Campus near Bard College's main campus in New York and will be open to students in the fall of 2025, according to the college's statement.
The Great Barrington campus closure was due to declining enrollment and a competitive free public early college market, according to the institution.
At the same time that the town has been deciding on the zoning overlay, interviews with real estate brokers have begun for the Great Barrington campus of Bard College at Simon's Rock and Bard Academy, which is planned for closure later this year, according to the institutions.
"The Simon's Rock Board of Overseers is leading a committee that is coordinating what happens with the Great Barrington campus upon the move of academic programming to the Massena campus," Fiona Scruggs, the director of communications and marketing for the college and academy, told MassLive in March.
Other Massachusetts colleges have closed recently. Eastern Nazarene College, a private liberal arts college in Quincy, announced in June it would close due to financial issues.
More Higher Ed
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