322 Main St Great Barrington, MA 01230-1859

Downtown Business B District. 9.5.1. Purpose. The Downtown Business District is designed to protect the traditional character of the central business area which has historically served Great Barrington and surrounding communities. The district is composed of blocks representing the wide spectrum of 19th century commercial architectural styles. It is important to recognize this area as a distinct zone to protect its character and ensure that it continues to function as an economic center and a densely developed area of pedestrian-oriented business. 9.5.2. Applicability. All proposed changes to the exterior of structures within the district shall require a meeting with the Design Advisory Committee. Any substantial structural change shall require a special permit from the Selectboard. A substantial structure change is defined as one which involves: changing the height of a structure or increasing the size of a structure's footprint or square footage of any aboveground floor by more than 25% or 1,000 square feet, whichever is smaller. 9.5.3. Permitted uses. Permitted uses in the Downtown Business District are set forth in Section 3.1.4, the Table of Use Regulations. 9.5.4. Special permit granting authority. The special permit granting authority shall be the Selectboard. 9.5.5. Design review required. 1. Within the Downtown Business District (B), the construction of any new structures, replacement of existing structures, substantial structural changes, and alterations or additions to existing structures which affect a structures' exterior architectural appearance, shall be subject to review by the Design Advisory Committee in accordance with Section 7.19 . 2. For the purpose of this section, a substantial structural change is defined as one which involves: changing the height of a structure; increasing the size of the footprint of a structure by more than 25% or 1,000 square feet, whichever is smaller; or increasing the square footage of any above ground floor by more than 25% or 1,000 square feet, whichever is smaller. 9.6