Town leaders in Lenox — working with Lee and Williamstown — and Stockbridge, on its own, are planning to explore the pros and cons of participating in the state’s voluntary Seasonal Communities program.

They are among the 18 towns in Berkshire County and 43 statewide designated as eligible. So far, 14 of the 43, all on the Cape and the Islands, are taking part.

The designation is an outgrowth of Gov. Maura Healey’s Affordable Homes Act, a state law approved by the Legislature in early 2024, aimed at towns heavily impacted by seasonal tourism and facing especially challenging housing shortages and unaffordable prices for working families.

Eight Berkshire towns, including Stockbridge, were among the first 25 designated statewide because of their many part-time residents, while Lenox was part of a second group of 10 county communities added to the list last month.

Ed Augustus, secretary of the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, has said the state is determined to help tourist-driven communities overcome their unique housing challenges. “[The office] is working hard to help ensure that these communities remain real year-round places where teachers, first responders, service workers and longtime residents can afford to live," he said during a December visit to Pittsfield.

The eligibility formula was modified by the state’s Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities to take into account the percentage of second homes and short-term rentals in each community.

The Berkshire Regional Planning Commission is offering District Local Technical Assistance grants to the eligible communities to evaluate the seasonal communities program aimed at easing the housing crunch in towns impacted by tourism, especially second-home ownership. The deadline for towns to apply is Jan. 30.

At a recent televised Lenox Select Board presentation, Town Manager Jay Green explained that acceptance of the designation ultimately is up to full-time residents at a future town meeting if the board decides to put it up for a vote.

The board approved a joint grant application with Lee and Williamstown, Green told The Eagle. The grant would fund the drafting of zoning bylaws a community must adopt to be eligible for the benefits of the state’s seasonal designation.

“It’s a very exciting opportunity for the town,” said Land Use Director and Town Planner Eammon Coughlin. He explained that Lenox was deemed eligible based on the high rate of short-term rental properties — 177 in all — as well as second homes.

About 18 percent of the town’s single-family homes are owned by part-time residents, according to the Lenox Assessor's Office.

If the town opts-in, it could set up a new trust fund to help and protect year-round housing for homeowners residing in the town for at least 10 months annually, Coughlin said.

The town could also work with other seasonal communities in the county to create regional housing trusts, he noted.

The town’s year-round trust fund also could develop or acquire in-town housing with a preference for “essential public employees” such as police, firefighters, teachers, artists, even town managers, Coughlin added.

If town meeting voters accept the seasonal community label, Lenox could consider shifting more of the property tax burden to second-home owners, he said.

The town also would need zoning changes to allow tiny homes in all single-family residential zones and to foster development of housing on undersized lots below 1 acre. The BRPC grant would assist the town on those changes.

Responding to a question from Selectman David Roche, Coughlin said “I don’t really see downsides” to the plan.

Town meeting voters could revoke acceptance of the designation, Coughlin said, if it isn’t working to the benefit of the town. However, he stressed that initially the designation would provide Lenox “access to tools” that nonseasonal towns could not have.

Select Board member Marybeth Mitts welcomed the designation “as a wonderful opportunity to help us with technical assistance,” noting a potential collaboration with Lee and Williamstown mentioned by Coughlin,

She acknowledged the need to explore potential density issues, a concern cited by Selectman Neal Maxymillian, as well as property tax implications.

Selectman Ed Lane urged caution and the need for a better understanding of the designation.

“All these great programs to save the world that come down the pike, when we get them, they aren’t so good after all,” he said. “It needs a lot more thought and discussion, in my mind anyway.”

The board voted 5-0 to apply for the grant to enable town leaders to do more research into the complex issues surrounding the seasonal communities designation.

THE VIEW FROM STOCKBRIDGE

Signage overlooking Gould Meadows in Stockbridge points to various attractions throughout the community. The town is considering seasonal designation from the state to help with its unique housing challenges.

In Stockbridge, where close to half of the town’s homes are owned by seasonal residents, Select Board member Jorja Marsden called it “a good idea” to apply for the no-cost funds to evaluate the pros and cons of the state program.

“It would really help us decide whether or not being designated a seasonal community is really good for the town of Stockbridge, and to help us understand fully what effect it might have on us,” she said at a recent board meeting.

The grant would provide details on what the town’s acceptance of the designation would involve, Town Administrator Michael Canales pointed out. It would identify the regulations, including risks and tradeoffs, to help prepare select boards for a decision.

“There are requirements a town must undertake if it accepts the designation,” he noted. “To clearly understand how it all works would be a good use of DLTA funds.”

The state has yet to issue a final draft of the regulations, Select Board Chairwoman Jamie Minacci said.

The board voted 3-0 to authorize Canales to apply for the grant.

Canales, Marsden, Minacci and board member Chuck Cardillo emphasized that the board would make its own decision on whether to put the seasonal community designation up for a vote by residents at a town meeting, based on what’s best for Stockbridge.