Belchertown Planning Board reorganizes, continues Pelham Road hearing to June 9

BELCHERTOWN -- May 26, 2026, Belchertown Planning Board reorganizes leadership and flags risk to 300 affordable housing units. The board re-elected Daniel Beaudette as chair and Elizabeth Pols as vice chair by unanimous 5-0 votes at its May 26 meeting, while continuing a stalled public hearing for a multifamily development on Pelham Road to June 9 because peer review engineer Tighe and Bond had not yet submitted its review letter. In member reports, Beaudette warned that the Lord Jeff Apartments complex, roughly 300 units financed 40 years ago through a USDA Rural Development subsidized mortgage, faces a decision in 2028 on whether to remain in the affordable program; if the units exit, the town's affordable housing percentage would fall from about 6 percent to about 3 percent, well below the state's 10 percent benchmark. Member Mike Hofler proposed asking Town Planner Doug Albertson to research whether a generic bylaw could protect the town's electrical and water supply from high-demand industrial uses, citing data centers as a hypothetical example.