Holyoke City Council Bans New Commercial Data Centers in All Zoning Districts

HOLYOKE — June 16, 2026 — Holyoke City Council voted 9-4 to ban new commercial data centers in all city zoning districts, enacting one of the strongest such local restrictions in Massachusetts. The June 16 vote followed more than an hour of public comment from 28 residents — engineers, scientists, nuns, and neighborhood advocates — who overwhelmingly demanded protection from what speakers called health, water, and energy risks tied to a proposed 20-megawatt facility at 100 Water Street by developer Chestnut Ridge LLC. The ordinance carves out the existing Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center, allowing it to continue as a permitted use up to 12 megawatts, and drops "data storage and processing" from the city's warehouse use definition to close a secondary legal pathway. Councilor Patricia McGrath-Smith, who chaired the Ordinance Committee, explained that without action the entire order would have gone stale, leaving the city unprotected. Dissenting Councilor Kenya Bacon raised procedural objections, arguing the moratorium language and the 12-megawatt carve-out had not been properly processed through committee. The council also passed 11-2 a non-binding resolution urging state support for rent stabilization, over a written objection from Mayor Joshua Garcia, and unanimously approved more than a dozen end-of-fiscal-year financial transfers before adjourning.