Northampton ZBA unanimously approves solar canopies and garage widening in two votes

Zoning Board · Meeting of February 12, 2026

Northampton's Zoning Board of Appeals unanimously approved two discretionary permits at its February 12 meeting. The board voted 3-0 to grant a zoning finding allowing Parallel Products Solar Energy LLC to construct 10 solar canopies over an active auto salvage yard at 182 Mount Tom Road, with Chair David Bloomberg citing the cleanup of the property, Conservation Commission-approved wetland buffer protections, solar energy benefits, and a visual improvement over the existing use as grounds for the decision. Attorney Michael Minow represented the applicant; Scott Daggett of Farland Corporation presented renderings showing the railroad berm along Route 5 would substantially screen the canopies, which range from roughly 17 to 26 feet in height and are spaced about 28 feet apart.

The board also voted 3-0 to grant a special permit to Lynn Reagan and Louis Montgomery to widen a nonconforming attached garage at 118 Lake Street in Florence from 12 to 16 feet, bringing the garage facade ratio to 33 percent against a 30 percent maximum, after extended deliberation over how to ensure the permit language would not be read as approving a separate detached garage sketched on the submitted site plan; the board resolved the issue by including explicit language in the findings excluding the rear structure from approval.

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Source: the Zoning Board meeting of February 12, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.