Lanesborough Planning Board Endorses Goodell Road Subdivision, Eyes Spring Zoning Changes

LANESBOROUGH -- November 17, 2025, Lanesborough Planning Board unanimously endorses a Goodell Road subdivision and opens debate on short-term rental rules, ADU limits, and outdoor recreational zoning. The board voted to approve a Form A plan submitted by surveyor Jim Seidel of State Design Group on behalf of landowner Dean Shaw, carving a 3.3-acre lot with 261 feet of frontage on Goodell Road from an 8-acre parcel on Billings Street; both resulting lots conform with the RA zone's 200-foot frontage and 2-acre minimum. Planning staff reported that a proposal to convert Donnybrook Country Club into a glamping resort will go before the Zoning Board of Appeals, likely in December, after the building commissioner determined the ZBA holds jurisdiction. On short-term rentals, staff explained that Massachusetts law authorizes a rooms tax up to 6 percent and an optional 3 percent community impact fee on investor-owned units, but that a tiered tax structure does not yet exist under state law; staff will request a Department of Revenue address list of Lanesborough properties remitting the rooms tax as a baseline. On ADUs, staff said the existing bylaw, capping detached units at a maximum of 1,200 square feet, must be updated to comply with 2024 state regulations removing special permit and parking requirements, and members discussed raising the size ceiling to 2,400 square feet for spring town meeting.