Westfield's Planning Board denied Servistar Realties LLC more time to begin its data-center project, finding that the company had not shown good cause for failing to start construction.
The signed decision, supplied to Six State Signal on Oct. 29, records the board's Oct. 13 action. It says the original permit had already received two additional years under a state law the decision calls the Mass Leads Act and retained an Oct. 19, 2026, lapse date, which has now passed.
The decision bears an Oct. 15 receipt stamp from the city clerk's office. Robyn Gay, the city's records access officer, said Oct. 29 that the city had received no appeals of the decision as of that date.
The permit was originally granted Oct. 19, 2021, for a data-center development off Ampad Road and Servistar Industrial Way. It covered a special permit, site-plan approval and a stormwater permit.
At the Oct. 13 meeting, Servistar representative Paul Corey said environmental work, electricity connections, state tax policy and financing had delayed the project, according to draft minutes the city supplied. He said the company had spent millions of dollars and that the remaining requirements depended on one another.
When a board member asked why construction had not begun, Corey said the company could not responsibly commit substantial capital without securing core local approvals, the draft minutes record.
Corey said financial backers would not invest further without a three-year extension. Servistar's counsel, Seth Stratton, urged the board to consider whether there was good cause for an extension rather than whether the company had acted in good faith.
The written decision, signed by board Chair William Carellas, says the board did not find good cause for the failure to commence construction. Gay said the meeting minutes remained in draft form on Oct. 29.