GREENFIELD — The Greenfield Planning Board reviewed preliminary plans for a new subdivision set to include 60 single-family homes, and voted to recommend the City Council enact a one-year moratorium on the construction of data centers Thursday night.
Jeff Squire, with Berkshire Design Group, presented preliminary application materials for a proposed new 60-lot subdivision off Log Plain Road. Earlier this summer, Parody Builders purchased the 131.5-acre lot at 36 Log Plain Road for $1,087,500. Now, Squire said Parody Builders would like to develop approximately 50% of the parcel and split the lot to add 59 new lots that will be sold for the construction of single-family homes.
“We are excited to work with Parody Builders to bring thoughtfully designed market-rate housing to the City of Greenfield at a time when demand for new housing opportunities continues to exceed available supply,” Squire wrote in preliminary application materials. “Through the use of the Open Space/Cluster Development approach, the project seeks to balance residential growth with the preservation of significant natural resources, existing trail networks, and permanently protected open space, creating a development that benefits both future residents and the broader community.”
The subdivision, which would be named “Evergreen Trail Estates,” would be developed in two phases. Squire said in the first phase, Parody Builders plans to construct a new access road off of Log Plain Road and create 18 lots to be sold for development. In phase two, an additional 42 lots would be created.
Following development, a homeowners association would be formed to manage maintenance of the subdivision’s roads. The subdivision would connect to the city’s water supply through the water main on Log Plain Road; however, each lot would need to have its own septic tank.
Squire noted that there is an existing solar array on the lot, and in approximately 20 years, when the lease for the array is up, the site will be decommissioned and make space for additional residences.
Planning Board members questioned the size of the subdivision and said that under the city’s Open Space/Cluster Development provisions, which the developer is using for the application as opposed to the regular subdivision provisions, as many as 116 residential lots could be created.
Planning Board Chair Jeff Sauser said the goal of the Open Space/ Cluster Development provisions was to encourage diverse housing at a variety of costs.
“I don’t see a whole lot of that spirit in this design. I see compressed, regular, conventional subdivision,” Sauser said. “It’s taking advantage of open space cluster.”
Squire said that the developer was not looking to put the maximum number of houses on the lot, and wants to ensure the neighborhood is attractive and maintains open space and recreational access to the natural landscape. Currently, 101.8 acres are enrolled in Chapter 61B for open space and recreational use, and the property abuts Barton Brook on the western side; the wetlands would be maintained as open space when developed.
“In our vision, in our mind, this wasn’t a place for a large multi-family building. It was much more a rural residential neighborhood,” Squire said.
Currently proposed site plans show lots ranging from approximately 11,000 square feet to over 60,000 square feet.
Squire said he would bring the board’s feedback to the developer and see whether any changes can be made to the designs before formally submitting the application.
Data Center moratorium
The Planning Board voted 4-1, with member Victor Moschella voting against, recommending the City Council enact the year-long moratorium on data centers proposed by Precinct 7 Councilor Sarah Bolduc. Bolduc told the board that she believes the year will allow the city to “catch up” its zoning regulations with the rapidly evolving industry.
“While the concept of a data center is not new, we are witnessing an unprecedented explosion in demand for data centers, that’s really challenging communities across the commonwealth and the nation at large,” Bolduc said. “And with that growth comes new challenges, finite resources being squeezed.
“I don’t genuinely believe that data centers are inherently harmful, nor is it really intended to be an ethical judgment about the technology or the industry,” Bolduc continued. “It’s fundamentally, I think, a land use question. The purpose of the proposed moratorium is to give Greenfield time to answer some of the basic questions before we’re answering them in response to a particular proposal.”
The proposed moratorium states that over the next year the Planning Board will be encouraged to review current zoning codes and regulations, develop a body of
research on any impacts these facilities have on the community, public safety, city
infrastructure, and on adjacent infrastructure; and also consider the impact, if any, to the
area wildlife and natural resources. If the board is unable to put forth recommendations in that time, the City Council can extend the moratorium by 180 days, during which time the council would have to draft its own changes to the zoning regulations.
Planning Board members seemed split on the idea, with Moschella questioning the basis for the moratorium, and member Sarah Brown-Anson, who later voted in favor, said the Planning Board had other things to do with its time.
“Are we basing this moratorium on any data? Is there any information or existing problems that have been defined by any existing communities that have data sets?” Moschella asked, “Did anyone come forward and say our water is bad, our electric bills are up… I didn’t find it.”
Bolduc referenced a study stating that communities in Virginia are being adversely affected by pollutants caused by data centers, and studies from cities in Utah where electric bills are increasing.
According to data from the Sierra Club, carbon emissions in Loudoun County, Virginia, are up 50% attributed to recent growth of data centers in the region, and with more data centers proposed, Dominion Energy is projecting that residential energy bills will increase from $142.77 today to $315.25 by 2039.
After some back and forth on the merits of existing data, the Planning Board ultimately voted to recommend the City Council pass the moratorium.
“I strongly support this; I think it makes sense to get out in front of this,” Member Thomas Bledsoe said.
Vice-Chair George Touloumtzis added that data centers are “complex, and that a moratorium would give them time to review the city’s current zoning code and regulations and whether it is prepared for any data centers that may be proposed in the future, as well as give the city time to see whether the state plans to issue any statewide guidance on data centers.
“This is giving time to assess the situation, including if there are other government interventions at a higher level,” Touloumtzis said.
While the Economic Development Committee did not take a vote Thursday night, members also expressed their support for the moratorium.
“What appeals to me about this moratorium is that it doesn’t say never, but it does say this industry’s changing so fast, things are coming at us so quickly, we need to pause,” Precinct 2 Councilor Rachel Gordon said. “We need to make sure that we’re actually getting these questions answered about what the impacts are elsewhere, what they might be in Greenfield, and respond to it thoughtfully and appropriately.
