COMMUNITY PROFILE
Rocky land discourages building in Berlin
By Thomas Grillo, Globe Correspondent, 5/18/2002
BERLIN - Officials in this tiny town 34 miles west of Boston don't have to discourage growth. A combination of rocky terrain and residents who stay for generations has kept the building and selling of homes to a minimum.
[an error occurred while processing this directive] "Mother Nature has protected Berlin with rocky ledge," said Richard Freeman, a realtor at Carlson GMAC Realtors. "And families who have been in town for many years rarely sell their homes."
A look at home sales iin the town helps to explain why.
In 2000 and 2001, only 43 single-family homes were sold. In contrast, Northborough, the neighboring town to the south, has had 338 sales in the last two years.
"Berlin is unique because it's adjacent to two major highways [interstates 290 and 495] yet it still has the feeling of a 1960s rural town," Freeman said.
The only development in recent years is an over-50 community for "active adults" that was built on River Road by Pulte Homes. The prices for condominiums there begin in the low $300,000s.
Developers of single-family home subdivisions often look at Berlin when they are searching for large parcels on which to build new homes. But they are discouraged by the rocky land, which routinely fails the percolation tests that are required before septic systems can be built.
The most recent proposal was submitted in March, when a Marlborough developer proposed to convert 100 River Road West - the site of the former Spooky World theme park - into a condominium development. First Colony Development Co. wants to transform the five-acre farm into 44 condos. The developer is seeking a comprehensive permit under the state's Chapter 40B law, which allows builders to bypass a town's zoning regulations in return for building affordable units.
The MLS Property Information Network listed three homes for sale this week in Berlin:
A 10-bedroom log home with two paddocks, a three-car garage, and an in-ground pool, for $509,000.
A nine-room Colonial built in 1997 on 4.3 acres, for $639,900.
An 1817 Colonial on a horse farm with three stalls on Wheeler Hill, for $675,000.
The Warren Group reports that the median price for a single-family home in Berlin last year was $313,500, up from $202,000 in 2000. But for the first two months of this year, the median price had fallen to $189,852, based on four sales.
Nestled in a low range of hills between the Nashua and the Assabet River valleys, Berlin is a residential and agricultural community with hayfields and horse farms.
Located in the Worcester region, Berlin is accessible by routes 9 and 20, and from the Massachusetts Turnpike. Interstate 495 is to the east, and Route 190 links the town to the Fitchburg-Leominster area.
After the Civil War, Berlin was home to shoe factories and lumber yards. By 1885, the town had moved into specialty gardening, featuring asparagus and hops. By the 1940s, farmers were raising chickens, and sales of eggs flourished.
In 1996, New England Development opened Solomon Pond Mall on the Marlborough border, saying that 500,000 people lived within a 25-minute drive of the 1.1 million-square-foot mall. Some abutters feared increased traffic would cripple Route 62, but most of the mall's traffic has been limited to interstates 495 and 290.
Lowe's Variety Store is still a popular meeting spot for longtime residents, who gather each day for coffee and sandwiches.
On last year's Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS), 10th-graders from the Berlin-Boylston Regional Schools finished eighth in The Boston Globe's ranking of school districts. The regional system finished behind the school systems in Wayland, Wellesley, Weston, and Belmont, but ahead of those in Lexington, Newton, and Concord-Carlisle.
Crime is low in Berlin. In 2000, the most recent data available from the Massachusetts State Police, there were four violent crimes and 58 crimes against property.
Marcia Eaton, of Marcia Eaton Realty Inc., works with families who are seeking more land, more privacy, and a countryside setting. Unlike in other communities, most homes in Berlin are sold by word-of-mouth and never reach the Multiple Listing Service, Eaton said.
"It's a tightknit little community, and most properties are sold that way," she said.
Many Massachusetts communities experienced explosive population growth in the 1990s, but Berlin has added only 207 residents since 1993.
AT A GLANCE
Incorporated: 1812Population: 2,500 Distance from Boston: 34 miles Area: 13.18 square miles Government: selectmen, town meeting Tax rate: $14.97 Schools: one K-6; Tahanto Regional High School (in Boylston); Assabet Valley Vocational School (in Marlborough) Median home price: $189,852 Hospitals: Clinton Hospital, Marlborough Hospital, several in Worcester
More information on Berlin from Boston.com's Your Town section.
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