Has Fergie Chambers shut down the Berkshire Communists’ ‘gym’ as ordered by Alford officials? It remains unclear

Members of the Alford Select Board listen as Building Inspector Matthew Kollmer talks about the Berkshire People’s Gym’s apparent permit violation last month. Kollmer sent a second notice ordering owner James Fergie Chambers to stop using the building as a training space.

EAGLE FILE PHOTO

ALFORD — A founder of Berkshire Communists may face fines and other legal problems if he doesn’t stop using a building on his property as a gym and martial arts training space.

Select Board members at their meeting Monday night said they have yet to hear from James Chambers — also known as Fergie Chambers — in response to multiple cease-and-desist notices issued about the the property.

A second notice was sent to Chambers by building inspector Matthew Kollmer about the building that houses the group’s Berkshire People’s Gym, informing Chambers that the original permit does not allow for such a use. The building at 274 East Road was permitted, rather, for “agricultural storage” or “farm equipment.”

Kollmer also sent a copy of the same letter, via certified mail, to Chambers’ lawyer, Doran, Kelly, Kirkland PLLC in Asheville, N.C. That office has confirmed receipt, according to Roxane Germain, secretary to the board as well as the town’s tax collector and treasurer.

Chambers, who lives mostly in New Hampshire, previously told The Eagle that the property is not being used commercially, as town officials have alleged.

Town officials as well as law enforcement have scrutinized Chambers and his Berkshire Communists organization in recent months after a slew of menacing social media posts by Chambers that were directed at the community and frightened residents.

James “Fergie” Chambers, founder of the Berkshire Communists, protests outside of General Dynamics in October. Chambers has been served a cease-and-desist order for the group’s training space in Alford. The town says its isn’t permitted for that use.

EAGLE FILE PHOTO

Chambers was vocal in praising Hamas for its massacres in Israel on Oct 7, setting the community further on edge. He has since had his primary Instagram account suspended due to some of the content, according to screenshots sent to The Eagle.

He and affiliates of the group also have cast themselves into the spotlight by protesting Israel and weapons manufacturers tied to that country. The group, which describes itself as a “revolutionary Marxist-Leninist collective,” recently protested outside General Dynamics in Pittsfield, and twice in Great Barrington. 

The multimillionaire Cox Media heir has spent more than $5 million on property in Alford. 

On one of those parcels sits the “liberatory training space,” which offers an array of martial arts and is “always free for working-class people and permanently closed to cops, active military, landlords, and capitalists,” the website says. 

That, town officials say, puts Chambers in violation of zoning laws.

The cease-and-desist notices from the town order the gym to “immediately” stop using the building for anything other than “personal storage of agricultural equipment.”

Kollmer also asks that Chambers contact him within 14 days of receipt to schedule “a site visit to verify compliance with the foregoing.”

He wrote that fines for noncompliance could reach $300 per day, and that “failure to comply with the Zoning By-Law may also result in civil or criminal action(s) against you.”

Chambers has the right to appeal, Kollmer also wrote.

The inspector could not be reached to answer more specific questions about the alleged violations and whether Chambers has complied with the order within the 14-day period required before fines and other penalties kick in.