Scott Road, Lanesborough — a historic one-lane dirt road that predates the town itself.
May 2026 | Scott Road | Select Board | Property Rights
When Are the Rules Applied Equally?
Scott Road and the Questions Lanesborough Won't Answer
Part 1 of a series documenting what happens when a property owner asks a small Massachusetts town to follow the law — and what follows.
All statements in this post reflect the author's personal experience, documented records, and the contents of correspondence that is a matter of public record.
Scott Road is easy to miss if you don't know it's there.
It is a single‑lane dirt road — the kind that predates the town itself. Historical records* note that it began as a Native American path before becoming a section of the original route between Great Barrington and Bennington, Vermont. For more than sixty years, my family has maintained and mowed the land around it as part of the working farm it passes through. Horses and carriages have traveled it for generations. Senior residents walk its quiet stretch, bicyclists enjoy its shade, and wildlife moves freely along its edges. It remains one of those rare, peaceful places that remind you why people choose to live in a small New England town at all.
So when the Town of Lanesborough began taking steps to widen and pave it — without notice, without a survey, without an engineering study, without an environmental impact assessment of wetlands that drain into the town water source, and without any apparent funding appropriation — I did what any reasonable property owner would do. I hired a litigation land attorney and asked some questions.
Before I hired an attorney, I had already witnessed things that raised serious questions. Mature shade trees lining the road were cut down — trees protected under Massachusetts General Law Chapter 87 — without any public hearing. The wood disappeared to private hands. And just this week, the road was blocked by equipment running a chipper, without the hazard signage required by law.
These are not minor oversights.What a Title Search Revealed
On May 4, 2026, my attorney at Shatz, Schwartz and Fentin sent a letter to the Lanesborough Select Board laying out findings. The title search was based on public records recorded with the registry of deeds.
This confirmed what I had come to believe after reviewing gigabytes of data, maps, and deeds gathered over 30 years by my father, Dr. Alexander Drescher — stretching back to the farm's beginnings, when Scott Road was known as the Hall Road, named for the original registered land owner, Captain Jabez Hall, and his family, a lineage that includes a connection to the Lincolns.
The conclusion of that research was striking:
Scott Road does not appear to have ever been formally taken or accepted as a public way by the Town of Lanesborough.
— Title examination finding, May 2026This may be true for many dirt roads in LanesboroughFurthermore, the portion abutting my property has never been surveyed. That means the legal boundary between my land and the road is currently undefined.
Over the past two years, Town heavy equipment has repeatedly operated beyond the historical boundaries of our farm road, causing documented damage to fencing, signage, side lawns, and several 300-year-old maple trees. To our knowledge, no EPA environmental review or wetlands impact study has been conducted — including at the south end which was paved last year under equally suspect circumstances — despite the road directly abutting a designated wetlands boundary. We have formally requested that documentation if it exists.
This is an active farm producing hay and corn for cattle whose products enter the public food supply. Massachusetts law affords working farm properties specific protections, which do not appear to have been considered in the Town's planning or execution of this work.
The letter was sent in good faith, seeking basic process and professional decorum from Town officials. What followed was anything but. That will be part #2
The Concerns My Attorney Raised
In a letter to the Select Board, my attorney raised the following concerns:
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On widening and paving: Any expansion of Scott Road, as it currently exists, would be based on an understanding of property rights that my attorney noted has not been legally defined. My attorney also advised that paving without proper planning could create liability for the Town and risk producing a substandard roadway.
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On the trees: Heavy machinery used on the road — which my attorney characterized in the letter as unnecessary for the work being performed — has caused visible damage to trees on my property that abut the road. The damage includes visible impacts to tree trunks. Damage to root systems, if any, may not be immediately observable.
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What I am not asking for: I am not seeking to prevent public use of Scott Road. I am requesting that the Town follow its own rules, preserve the road's historic single-lane character, and refrain from actions that may encroach on private property without due process.
What the Residents Asked the Town to Do in September '25 and reiterate in the letter.
My attorney's letter made four straightforward requests to the Select Board:
- Designate Scott Road a Safety Zone with a 20 mph speed limit — consistent with similar designations elsewhere in town — to protect senior residents, horses, and pedestrians.
- Restrict commercial vehicle traffic, given that Route 7 is a short distance away and there is no legitimate reason for trucks to use this narrow road.
- Enforce existing traffic laws consistently and equally, as there have been repeated incidents of vehicles speeding and endangering residents.
- Cease further widening or improvement efforts that would alter the road's historical layout and rural character. (Added when the DPW continued to do so with the paving of Scott Road South End.)
These are not radical requests. They are the kinds of things any engaged property owner might bring to their local government.
A Little History Worth Knowing
Scott Road carries more than four centuries of history. Historical records* show it began as a Native American path and later became the original route between Great Barrington and Bennington, Vermont. For over sixty years, the land around this single‑lane dirt road has been maintained and mowed as part of the working farm it crosses.
Commitment here runs deeper than ownership. Dr. Alexander Drescher, the family's patriarch, served the community as its pediatrician for more than 20 years, led Pediatrics and then Psychiatry at Pittsfield General (now BMC), and chaired the Mt. Greylock Regional School Board. The family is rooted in service, not merely in residence.
That service continues at Musicwoods Farm. As the recipient of the MGRHS 1977 Berkshire Symphony Music Award, I carry forward that legacy of artistic support. In honor of my parents, I have continued to fund the Prize for Art at Mt. Greylock — now the Aline and Alexander Drescher Prize, supported for more than twenty years and now sustained for the years ahead.
Stewardship of this land — including the 300‑year history of the Hall Tavern site, predating the town's incorporation in 1765 — remains the farm's first obligation, and everything else follows from that.
"Historic ways like Scott Road are an asset to towns like Lanesborough and Mr. Drescher hopes to see it preserved with common sense measures."
— Shatz, Schwartz and Fentin, letter to the Lanesborough Select Board, May 4, 2026
What Happened Next
Coming in Part 2: The Director of the DPW admitted in a public meeting that he drove the loader that damaged my trees, roots, fencing, and cameras. After my attorney's letter reached the Select Board, he arrived at my home with a police officer — and announced during that visit that he had just been appointed Tree Warden and he would "Gravel (Mill) the road and add pullouts" There's more!
These are not minor administrative oversights. They are a pattern.
What do you think?
Are the laws and bylaws applied without bias here in Lanesborough?
(Ask Second Drop Farm. [link to iBerkshires Story])
NOTE:
Please drive slowly and carefully on this road. Four residents are over age 65, and livestock, dogs, people on horseback, pedestrians, cyclists, and horse-drawn vehicles use this right-of-way 24 hours a day. For everyone’s safety, do not drive recklessly or obstruct access.
All incidents are documented and will be reported to appropriate authorities. Any unsafe or harassing behavior may result in law enforcement action and/or civil prosecution.
Show Up at the Town Meeting
June 9th, 2026 at the Elementary School
Don't let the usual 3% of the public raise your taxes without your vote!
The letter referenced in this post was sent by attorney Joshua Y. Levine of Shatz, Schwartz and Fentin to the Lanesborough Select Board on May 4, 2026. It is a matter of public record. Future posts in this series will document what happened next — including the response that letter triggered, and the questions that response raises about how this town treats the residents it is elected to serve.
All statements are supported by contemporaneous notes, photographs, videos, DigSafe records, and eyewitness accounts in my possession.
* Historical records include The Knurow Collection and History of the County of Berkshire, Massachusetts, in Two Parts — by Gentlemen and Clergy (1829), available at the Berkshire Athenaeum.
— William Drescher
Musicwoods Farm · Lanesborough, MA ·
musicwoods.farm
© 2023 wmdrescher