What The Boston Globe described as the largest data center planned in New England will not be built in Westfield, at least not under its current permit. On Tuesday, October 13, 2026, the Westfield Planning Board voted unanimously to deny developer Servistar Realties an extension of the special permit it won in 2021 for a data center campus of more than 150 acres. The permit expires at the end of October.
The board found that the developer “had failed to demonstrate good cause” for an extension, WBUR reported, republishing New England Public Media. That phrase comes straight from the state Zoning Act. Here is how special permits expire in Massachusetts, what the board pointed to, and what Servistar can still do.
What happened at the meeting
According to the NEPM report carried by WBUR:
- Servistar has been trying to build the campus in Westfield since 2019, and the planning board approved its permits in 2021.
- Since then, the developer had opened talks with Westfield Gas & Electric over power supply and brought in surveyors to delineate wetlands. But it “never actually purchased any of the land they planned to build on,” a point board chair William Carellas pressed. “We provided you all the tools to make this shovel-ready,” he said.
- Paul Corey, representing Servistar, blamed the delay mainly on state tax incentives the company said it needed before it could finance the project, and on market instability, including federal tariffs. “It wasn’t because of us, it was because of the market,” he said.
- Board members cited what WBUR called procedural failings: Servistar let its LLC status lapse in late 2024, and it never recorded its special permit at the Hampden County Registry of Deeds.
The Boston Globe reported that the project would have been 10 buildings built over a decade, needing 274 megawatts of power at full build-out, and that the local electricians’ union, IBEW Local 7, had expected hundreds of jobs and called the decision disappointing. The Globe described the project as a $4 billion data center; Boston.com’s headline put it at $3 billion.
Why special permits expire: G.L. c. 40A, § 9
A special permit is permission from a local board for a use the zoning code allows only case by case. It is not permanent if it goes unused. Section 9 of the Zoning Act, which we read at malegislature.gov, requires every local zoning code to:
“provide that a special permit granted under this section shall lapse within a specified period of time, not more than 3 years, which shall not include such time required to pursue or await the determination of an appeal referred to in section seventeen, from the grant thereof, if a substantial use thereof has not sooner commenced except for good cause or, in the case of permit for construction, if construction has not begun by such date except for good cause.”
Three points follow from that text:
- The clock. Each city or town sets its own lapse period, but it cannot exceed three years, not counting time spent in court appeals.
- What stops the clock. Starting the permitted use, or for a construction permit, starting construction.
- The escape valve. “Good cause.” A developer that has not started can ask the board for more time, and the question is whether its reasons are good enough. Here the board said they were not.
Reports did not explain how a permit granted in 2021 came to expire at the end of October 2026, more than three years later, and we have not seen the board’s written decision or Westfield’s zoning ordinance provision. Earlier extensions or tolling could account for it, but we could not confirm that.
The unrecorded permit
The board’s point about the Registry of Deeds is not a technicality under state law. Section 11 of chapter 40A says:
“A special permit, or any extension, modification or renewal thereof, shall not take effect until a copy of the decision bearing the certification of the city or town clerk that 20 days have elapsed after the decision has been filed in the office of the city or town clerk and either that no appeal has been filed or the appeal has been filed within such time … is recorded in the registry of deeds.”
Recording is how a permit becomes part of the land’s public record. The board raised the failure to record as one sign of a project that had not been carefully managed. We found no reporting on whether anyone argued it affected the permit’s legal status, and the board treated the permit as valid until its expiration date.
Can Servistar appeal?
Yes, but quickly. Under G.L. c. 40A, § 17, “any person aggrieved” by a decision of a special permit granting authority may appeal “by bringing an action within twenty days after the decision has been filed in the office of the city or town clerk.” Because Westfield is in Hampden County, the statute lets the case go to the Land Court, the Superior Court, or the Housing Court division for the county.
The twenty days run from the date the written decision is filed with the city clerk, not from the vote itself. We have not confirmed that filing date. Servistar did not respond to the Globe’s request for comment, and no appeal had been reported as of October 16.
On appeal, the question would be whether the board’s finding that there was no good cause for an extension was legally sound.
The moratorium
Even a fresh application could not be filed now. In July 2026 the Westfield City Council adopted a one-year moratorium on data centers. During that period, “no applications for data centers can be accepted or approved,” Western Mass News reported. Servistar’s project was exempted because it was already underway, WBUR reported. Councilor Kristen Mello has said developers could reapply after the moratorium expires next July, but that any new proposal would need stronger protections for the city’s water supply, the Globe reported.
Temporary moratoriums like this have long had support in Massachusetts law. In Sturges v. Chilmark, 380 Mass. 246 (1980), the Supreme Judicial Court held that “a municipality may impose reasonable time limitations on development, at least where those restrictions are temporary and adopted to provide controlled development while the municipality engages in comprehensive planning studies.” The court pointed to the Zoning Act’s purposes, including “the adequate provision of water, water supply, and sewerage,” and the conservation of natural resources. It also described its earlier decision in Collura v. Arlington, 367 Mass. 881 (1975), which upheld a two-year moratorium on apartment construction pending a town planning review. Whether any particular moratorium holds up depends on its terms, its length and the record behind it.
The state tax break
Servistar’s argument about state incentives refers to sales tax breaks for data centers that were written into state law in 2024. Governor Healey froze applications for them this past summer, WBUR reported. The Globe reported Corey said the company spent much of the past five years lobbying for that tax break.
Frequently asked questions
Why did Westfield deny the data center permit extension?
The planning board voted unanimously that Servistar Realties had not shown good cause for more time. Board members pointed to the lack of progress since 2021, including that the developer never bought the land, let its LLC status lapse and never recorded the permit at the Registry of Deeds.
How long does a special permit last in Massachusetts?
Under G.L. c. 40A, section 9, local zoning codes must provide that a special permit lapses within a set period of no more than three years, not counting appeal time, unless substantial use or construction has begun, except for good cause.
Can the developer appeal?
Yes. Under G.L. c. 40A, section 17, an aggrieved party has 20 days from the date the decision is filed with the city clerk to file suit in the Land Court, Superior Court or, in Hampden County, the Housing Court.
Can Massachusetts towns ban data centers?
Towns can adopt temporary moratoriums to study a use, and the SJC has upheld reasonable temporary limits adopted during planning studies. Westfield’s data center moratorium runs one year from July 2026. A permanent ban would raise different questions under the Zoning Act.
Sources: WBUR, republishing New England Public Media, October 14, 2026; The Boston Globe, October 14, 2026; Boston.com, October 16, 2026; Western Mass News, July 7, 2026. G.L. c. 40A, sections 9, 11 and 17, read at malegislature.gov. Sturges v. Chilmark, 380 Mass. 246 (1980), read on CourtListener. We have not reviewed the planning board’s written decision. General information about Massachusetts law, not legal advice.