Council OKs planning director's clean-energy permit role

Select Board · Meeting of September 17, 2026

NORTHAMPTON — The Northampton City Council voted 9-0 to put the planning director in charge of local permitting for small solar and battery-storage projects under a new state law taking effect Oct. 1. Planning Director Carolyn Misch presented the administrative order designating her office as the local government representative and the Planning Board as the permit-granting authority for small clean energy infrastructure facilities. A public hearing speaker, Dan Brindell, said a nearby tree clearing destroyed a red-tailed hawk nesting site with no public review, warning that "nobody protected these birds and they're dead now." Councilor Stratton questioned whether the Planning Board's new role was "a fairly mechanical endorsement" of staff findings.

The council also voted 9-0 to amend and approve a data center study committee resolution, pushing the application deadline to Oct. 15 and adding Councilor Gwen Nabod as sponsor. Finance Director Nardi reported the city's FY26 budget exceeded projections by just $1,070,243 excluding parking revenue, down sharply from $5.8 million the prior year.

In the full story:

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Source: the Select Board meeting of September 17, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript. It was corrected where it differed.