Traffic signal at State and Finn streets
The new traffic signal at State and Finn streets was activated on Monday, July 11, and will continue in flash mode for 30 days before being put into full operation.

737 Bridge Road and 196 Cooke Ave.
The City Council Committee on Legislative Matters and the Planning Board will hold a virtual public hearing at 5 p.m. Monday, Aug. 8, to consider amending the zoning map by expanding the Urban Sustainable Growth Overlay District to include 737 Bridge Road and 196 Cooke Ave.

That would allow the city to receive state money for each unit of affordable housing that is built on those sites.

Valley Community Development Corp. of Northampton proposes to redevelop the former nursing home at 737 Bridge Road into 60 units of affordable housing. The city owns the former Moose Lodge property at 196 Cooke Ave. and will work with a partner to develop up to four units of affordable housing.

Director of Planning & Sustainability
Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra has appointed Carolyn Misch to be the permanent director of the Department of Planning & Sustainability. The appointment will be on the agenda of the City Council during its next regular virtual meeting at 7 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 18.

Misch has been interim director of Planning & Sustainability since Wayne Feiden retired at the end of June. She has nearly 30 years of experience in the planning field at the local, regional and state levels. Misch has worked for the City of Northampton for the last 22 years, as the senior planner and permits manager and, since 2020, assistant director of Planning & Sustainability.

Sciarra said her advisory screening committee unanimously recommended Misch after reviewing candidates who responded to a national search. “Carolyn was the best and most qualified candidate by far,” Sciarra said. “She has the vision, the experience, and the temperament to guide Northampton as it implements its progressive planning agenda and as we work to meet our climate change goals.”