Northampton Planning Board Continues Cooley-Dickinson Lighting Waiver to May, Approves Glendale Road Cluster

NORTHAMPTON -- March 26, 2026, Northampton Planning Board continues Cooley-Dickinson lighting waiver and approves 39-unit Florence cluster development. The board unanimously pushed a waiver request from Cooley-Dickinson Hospital for ambulance canopy lighting exceeding the city's 2024 dark-skies ordinance to its May 14 meeting, directing the hospital to return with a shielding proposal after more than a dozen residents, many affiliated with the citizen group Northampton City Lights, argued that targeted, lower-color-temperature fixtures could meet both patient safety and ordinance standards without a blanket waiver. Fire Chief Andy Peelis and Mayor's Chief of Staff Alan Wolf, appearing on behalf of Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra, supported the waiver on life-safety grounds; Wolf said the city solicitor believes an existing public-safety exemption at Section 35012.1 F7 may already cover the use. Separately, the board unanimously approved a special permit for Sovereign Builders' 39-unit open-space residential cluster development off Glendale Road in Florence, requiring the applicant to fund a full Glendale Road traffic study and implement calming measures, up to a $117,000 mitigation fee, before construction vehicles access the site, and to deed roughly 54.3 acres of open space to the city in phases tied to building permits and the 20th certificate of occupancy.