Lenox ZBA Continues Housatonic Street Hearing and Zoning Administrator Talks to August

Zoning Board · Meeting of July 8, 2026

Lenox Zoning Board continues 165 Housatonic Street special permit hearing to August 26 and defers zoning administrator decision. Attorney Jeff Lynch, representing the applicant for a renovation and rebuild at 165 Housatonic Street, told the board at its July 8 meeting that the project is still pending before both the Planning Board and Conservation Commission, and asked that the ZBA, "the last board of approval", wait until those processes conclude before proceeding. The board, meeting with a full five-member quorum, unanimously scheduled its hearing for August 26 at 6:30 p.m.

The board also voted unanimously to continue its multi-week deliberation on whether to appoint a zoning administrator, a position authorized by a town meeting supermajority vote, to that same evening at 6 p.m., pending town counsel guidance on whether the ZBA's supermajority voting requirements would apply to a single administrator's decisions and whether an administrator could decline to rule and refer a matter to the full board. The administrator stipend is set at $500 per year; the current application fee is $500, and staff suggested raising it to $600 to cover potential double newspaper-posting costs if an administrator's decision is appealed.

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Source: the Zoning Board meeting of July 8, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.