The developer of what The Boston Globe described as the largest data center planned in New England is taking Westfield to court. Servistar Realties LLC filed an appeal in the Land Court on Wednesday, November 4, 2026, challenging the Westfield Planning Board’s refusal to extend the permits for its 10-building data center campus, The Westfield News reported in a story published by MassLive.
The complaint names the members of the Planning Board, who voted unanimously on October 13 to deny a three-year extension. It asks the court to annul that decision and order the board to grant the extension. Here is what Servistar argues, what the 2024 state law that kept the permit alive says, and the legal test the Land Court will apply.
What the complaint says
According to The Westfield News, which reviewed the complaint filed by attorney Seth N. Stratton of Fitzgerald Law in East Longmeadow:
- The project. The Planning Board issued a special permit, site plan approval and stormwater permit on October 19, 2021, for a multiphase campus of 10 data center buildings, about 2.47 million square feet in all.
- The timeline. The permits originally lapsed on October 19, 2024. The complaint says the state’s Permit Extension Act pushed that to October 19, 2026.
- The request. On September 4, 2026, before the lapse date, Servistar asked the board to find good cause and extend the permits three years, to October 18, 2029.
- The denial. The board took public comment on September 15 and voted to deny on October 13 at a remote meeting with no public participation.
- The argument. Servistar says its request was timely, fell within the “good cause” exception in state law and Westfield Zoning Ordinance I-50.3, and was backed by five years of utility, environmental, legislative and financing work.
The complaint accuses the board of bowing to opposition. “Facing strong community backlash, mounting public opposition to data centers and political interference, rather than apply the good cause standard to the record before it, the Planning Board treated the absence of physical construction, and the asserted failure to ‘exercise’ the Permits, as disqualifying,” it says, according to the report. It also says the board “substituted a subjective ‘good faith’ and communications test for the statutory good cause standard.”
The complaint says the board’s written decision is a single conclusory sentence, with no findings of fact and no reason given for finding good cause lacking. “The Planning Board’s decision rests on legally untenable grounds and is unreasonable, arbitrary, and capricious, and it exceeds the Planning Board’s authority,” it says. Without the permits, Servistar says, it would “forfeit years of development efforts and millions of dollars in investment.”
These are Servistar’s allegations. The Planning Board has not filed a response, and The Westfield News did not report a comment from the city or the board.
Why the 2021 permit lasted until 2026
When the board denied the extension in October, we noted that reports had not explained how a permit granted in 2021 was still alive five years later, when the Zoning Act caps the initial lapse period at three years. The complaint answers that question: the Permit Extension Act.
That law is Section 280 of Chapter 238 of the Acts of 2024, part of the economic development bill Gov. Maura Healey signed in November 2024. We read it at malegislature.gov. It says that “an approval in effect or existence during the tolling period shall be extended for a period of 2 years in addition to the lawful term of the approval.” The tolling period is “the period from January 1, 2023 to January 1, 2025, inclusive.” The definition of “approval” expressly covers approvals issued under “chapters 40A to 40C,” which includes zoning special permits.
Servistar’s three-year permit, issued in October 2021, was in effect throughout that window, so its 2024 lapse date moved to 2026. The extra two years were automatic. They did not require any vote by the Planning Board.
The legal test: “good cause”
The Zoning Act, G.L. c. 40A, § 9, which we read at malegislature.gov for our earlier report, requires every local code to provide that a special permit lapses within a set period, no more than three years, “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.”
The statute does not define good cause. That leaves the fight Servistar has picked. Its position is that delays for financing, utility work and state approvals are exactly the kind of cause the exception exists for. The board pointed, at its October meeting, to the lack of construction and land purchases, and to procedural lapses: WBUR, republishing New England Public Media, reported that board members noted Servistar had let its LLC status lapse in late 2024 and never recorded its special permit at the Hampden County Registry of Deeds.
How the Land Court reviews it
Where. Under G.L. c. 40A, § 17, any person aggrieved by a special permit granting authority may appeal to the Land Court or the Superior Court, and for land in Hampden County, also to the Housing Court division for the county. Stratton told The Westfield News that Servistar believes the proper appeal is to the Land Court or Superior Court, not the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals.
How fast. The case was filed in the Land Court’s permit session. Stratton said that session “is designed for permit appeals to be a little bit faster, because permits are at stake,” though “it depends on the business of the court.”
The standard. Courts give local boards wide discretion over special permits. In Britton v. Zoning Board of Appeals of Gloucester, 59 Mass. App. Ct. 68 (2003), which we verified and read on CourtListener, the Appeals Court said a reviewing court “must affirm the board’s decision unless it finds that denial of the application was ‘based on a legally untenable ground, or [was] unreasonable, whimsical, capricious or arbitrary,'” quoting MacGibbon v. Board of Appeals of Duxbury, 356 Mass. 635, 639 (1970), also verified.
The complaint’s wording tracks that test almost word for word. To win, Servistar has to show the board either applied the wrong legal standard, such as a “good faith” test the statute does not contain, or reached a result no reasonable board could reach on the record.
What it asks for. Servistar wants the decision annulled and an order requiring a three-year extension measured from the entry of final judgment, according to the report.
The moratorium
The appeal matters more because a fresh application is not an option right now. In July 2026, the Westfield City Council adopted a one-year moratorium on data centers, during which no data center applications can be accepted or approved, as we reported in October. If the permits are gone, Servistar would have to wait out the moratorium and start over.
Frequently asked questions
Did Servistar appeal the Westfield data center decision?
Yes. Servistar Realties LLC filed a Land Court complaint on November 4, 2026, appealing the Planning Board’s October 13 denial of a three-year permit extension, according to The Westfield News.
What is the Massachusetts Permit Extension Act?
Section 280 of Chapter 238 of the Acts of 2024 automatically added two years to land use approvals, including special permits, that were in effect at any time from January 1, 2023 to January 1, 2025.
Can a court overturn a planning board’s special permit decision?
Yes, but only if the decision rests on a legally untenable ground or is unreasonable, whimsical, capricious or arbitrary, under MacGibbon v. Board of Appeals of Duxbury and later cases.
Sources: The Westfield News, via MassLive, November 7, 2026, describing Servistar’s Land Court complaint; WBUR/New England Public Media, October 2026. Chapter 238 of the Acts of 2024, § 280, and G.L. c. 40A, §§ 9 and 17, read at malegislature.gov. Britton v. Zoning Board of Appeals of Gloucester, 59 Mass. App. Ct. 68 (2003), and MacGibbon v. Board of Appeals of Duxbury, 356 Mass. 635 (1970), verified on CourtListener. General information, not legal advice.