JUNE 25, 2026 | FREE
WWW.THEREMINDER.COM
Holyoke bans future data center projects By Tyler Garnet
tgarnet@thereminder.com
EDITION CHICOPEE
City Council appropriates funds for tax relief The city will use $3 million in an effort to provide tax relief for its residents.
Page 7
HOLYOKE
The City Council discusses a zoning ordinance amendment that bans future data center development in Holyoke during its June 16 meeting. Photo credit: Holyoke Media
Page 10
PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID SPRINGFIELD, MA PERMIT NO. 142
See DATA CENTER on page 2
POSTAL CUSTOMER
ers, storage systems, networking equipment, and related computing infrastructure and equipment necessary for storing, processing and distributing data and applications.” The definition for warehouse previously stated, “A building used primarily for the storage of goods and materials, for distribution, but not for sale on the premises. including the storage of data and digital information.” The new amendment removes “including the storage of data and digital information.” The amendment also changes section 4.3 table of principal uses to add the word “no” in the chart prohibiting the use of data centers in any zone in the city. Section 3 of the amended ordinance states that the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center, which has operated in Holyoke since 2012, can continue as a permitted use
ECRWSS
language forward that defines a data center, strikes out language from the definition for warehouse that currently allows data centers and prohibits data centers in the table of uses in the city. The subcommittee also discussed language included in the original amendment to enact a two-year moratorium on the application for building new data centers, defined in section 2.0 of the Holyoke zoning ordinances. The motion failed 3-2 but was still presented to the City Council on June 16. City Councilor Linda Vacon argued that the moratorium language that was provided by the chair was never requested by the subcommittee or seen by the subcommittee until a couple hours before the meeting, which violates the city’s rules, she argued. According to the new amendment, a data center is now considered “A building or series of buildings that houses and supports the high-performance serv-
Latitia Molina will join the Holyoke School Committee after the committee and City Council hosted a joint meeting on June 17 to finalize her appointment.
POSTAL CUSTOMER
June 2, the zone change amendment was voted to be sent back to the City Council Ordinance Subcommittee. Before the June 11 Ordinance Subcommittee meeting, Holyoke residents and community advocates gathered outside City Hall to voice their opposition to the data center development on Water Street. Following the outdoor demonstration, residents attended the Ordinance Subcommittee meeting to show their support for a data center project ban. Holyoke resident Susan Van Pelt voiced her opposition to data centers in a statement. “Around the country, we’ve seen data center developers claim one thing and deliver something else. They’re using huge amounts of electricity and water while generating pollution in the form of noise, heat and chemicals,” Van Pelt stated. After over two hours of discussion, the subcommittee passed a motion to move the ban
Molina fills Ward 7 seat on School Committee
PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID SPRINGFIELD, MA PERMIT NO. 142
HOLYOKE — Future data centers are banned in the city of Holyoke after the City Council voted 9-4 in favor of a zoning ordinance amendment during its council meeting on June 16. The conversation around data centers has run rampant throughout the city of Holyoke over the past couple of weeks, but especially on June 11 and 16, when the Holyoke City Council Ordinance Subcommittee and full City Council discussed a proposed definition and zone change at their respective meetings. The conversation began when a proposed data center at the former Hampden Paper Complex on Water Street sparked debate after the City Council discussed a zoning amendment to ban the facilities during its June 2 meeting. The original zoning ordinance amendment order was filed on Jan. 20, and the first public hearing took place on Feb. 4. The second and final public hearing took place and eventually closed on April 14. It was then voted out of committee and sent to the full council for a vote, which happened on June 2. The data center proposal on Water Street was expected to use about 20 megawatts of power, which is enough to supply thousands of homes. Mayor Joshua Garcia also stated that it is believed that the proposed $200 million private investment would have generated $2 million plus annually in real property taxes. It would also have put a long-vacant property back on the tax rolls and help improve a section of Water Street that is blighted, Garcia argued. The project, however, will no longer continue after this council vote. After a lengthy debate on
IN THIS