From Northampton Media
By Mary Serreze
Wednesday, April 21, 2010

No Environmental Review Required for Revised State Hospital Development Plan

A revised development plan for the grounds of the former Northampton State Hospital will require no environmental impact report, ruled Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles on April 9.

The new plan for the development called Village Hill “reflects current development opportunities and market conditions,” wrote Bowles in his decision.

The original master plan for the mixed-use project, approved in 1999 and revised in 2006, called for 207 housing units; the 2009 revision calls for 327 mixed-income units in a variety of housing types. While the original plan called for 476,000 square feet of commercial development, the new plan scales that back to 361,000.