Holyoke Ordinance Committee Advances Fee Update, Tables Parking Board Overhaul

HOLYOKE -- March 4, 2026, Holyoke's Ordinance Committee tabled two ordinance revisions and continued a cannabis hours public hearing at its March 4 meeting. Marcus Gabrieli, the city's sealer of weights and measures, presented a regional fee comparison and asked the committee to raise inspection fees for the first time in six years, including bumping the scanner fee for small stores from $100 to $125; the committee voted unanimously to seek legal language before acting. The committee also unanimously asked the city solicitor and mayor to weigh in on whether a proposed slimmed-down Parking Advisory Board, consisting mostly of city staff plus one public member, even requires an ordinance, or whether the mayor could simply constitute it as an internal working group. A public hearing on extending cannabis dispensary hours beyond the current 8 a.m.-to-11 p.m. window was continued to April 28 after new Office of Planning and Economic Development Director Eric Nakajima asked for time to consult with interested businesses. The committee closed a separate sign-ordinance public hearing with no changes recommended, accepting the Planning Board's finding that existing rules already prohibit the signs, the problem is enforcement.