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.