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.