Biotech zoning idea loses steam in Hadley

By Nick Grabbe
Staff Writer

Published on September 05, 2008

HADLEY - The Planning Board will not pursue a bylaw to encourage biotechnology companies to locate in town, said member William Dwyer.

"There doesn't seem to be any need to take it any further at this point," he said after a discussion with the Board of Selectmen Wednesday.

Amherst passed biotechnology zoning last fall. It is designed to take advantage of life sciences work at the University of Massachusetts and establish regulations for related businesses, said Town Administrator David Nixon.

"Do we want to encourage a kind of industry that's hard to imagine now?" he said. "If we zone it, will they come? Or is our current zoning sufficient?"

Nixon said he has been talking to officials from Amherst and UMass about ways to promote economic development, and biotech zoning is a strategy that has been recommended. He provided the Planning Board with the zoning language and regulations used in Cambridge, he said.

Gov. Deval Patrick has been promoting life sciences as a future direction for the Massachusetts economy. Such enterprises include "experimenting with plant and animal species to derive useful products and medications," Nixon said. Biotech firms should not be located over the aquifer or on floodplains or prime farmland, said James Maksimoski, who chairs the Planning Board. They should be close to sewer and water hookups and should not be on steep slopes, said Dwyer.

That leaves only an isolated section near the intersection of Routes 9 near 116, he said.

"We're inclined to think biotech may be the latest thing, but it doesn't seem we have suitable land for it," he said.

The board can already authorize research labs, Dwyer said. Biotech developers are looking for sites that are already designated for this use so they can act quickly, he said.

"Our current zoning allows a broad range of commercial uses," Dwyer said. "It doesn't have a cookbook that says if a developer does this, he's almost guaranteed a permit."

If Hadley doesn't pursue biotechnology zoning, it would not mean prohibiting these uses, Dwyer said. "It would just mean not making a special effort to put out a welcome mat," he said.

Nick Grabbe can be reached at ngrabbe@gazettenet.com.