Select Board Refers Zoning Rules To Hearing

Select Board · Meeting of October 5, 2026

Southwick's Select Board sent proposed zoning rules on data centers and battery storage to a Planning Board hearing. Board members Doug Moglin, Russ Anderson and Joseph Dede voted 3-0 to refer the amendments, which Town Planner Alvin Allen said would add wind and battery-storage language absent from current zoning and new rules targeting data centers, after the Planning Board rejected a moratorium. Mrs.

Thornton, joining by Zoom, said the town wants to "get ahead of" the issue "before it does become an issue that is either forced on us via an applicant or via state or federal mandate." The board also voted 3-0 to sign a $45,000 contract with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission for phase two of zoning modernization, running through June 2028, and acknowledged a payables warrant totaling $316,590.74.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 2,370 words

Source: the Select Board meeting of October 5, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.