Planning Board delays 40R zoning vote to spring
The Hadley Planning Board pushed its proposed 40R smart-growth zoning bylaw from this fall's Special Town Meeting to next spring.
Planning Board · Meeting of September 1, 2026
HADLEY — The Hadley Planning Board pushed its proposed 40R smart-growth zoning bylaw from this fall's Special Town Meeting to next spring. Reviewing the draft with Pioneer Valley Planning Commission staff, members debated parking minimums, building setbacks and capacity on the shared Amherst-Hadley sewer line before concluding a public hearing couldn't happen before the October 24 Special Town Meeting. Member Joseph Zgrodnik questioned the push for more housing, noting "we've got 11.9 percent of our housing as affordable, and it's the highest of all our neighbors." Earlier, the board unanimously approved a sign permit for a Route 9 business and continued, to September 15, a site plan waiver for a proposed Citizens Bank branch at the former Friendly's on Russell Street, where Clerk William Dwyer objected to removing the building's roof cupola.
The Historical Commission also pitched a demolition delay bylaw for buildings 100 years or older, which Chair James Maksimoski and Dwyer both questioned.
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Source: the Planning Board meeting of September 1, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
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