Hampden Planning Board Closes Great Horse Hearing Without Issuing Zone-Change Recommendation

HAMPDEN -- September 25, 2024, Hampden Planning Board declines to recommend nearly 292-acre Great Horse rezoning, sending it to town meeting by default. The board, chaired by Madison Pixley and including members Christina Brodeur, Pat Coyne, David Demers, and John Matthews, closed its public hearing Wednesday on a request by Great Horse LLC, represented by attorney Seth Stratton, to rezone four parcels totaling about 292 acres on Wilbraham Road from R4 and R6 residential to golf recreational, primarily to allow relocation of the golf course's maintenance shed from its current roadside location to the adjacent farm property. Roughly 40 residents attended, nearly all opposed, with several abutters questioning why the entire acreage needed rezoning rather than a smaller, targeted area. By voting only to close the hearing and issuing no recommendation, the board started a 21-day statutory clock under Chapter 40A; if no recommendation follows, the matter proceeds to town meeting, now set for October 29, where a two-thirds majority would be required for approval.