Conservation commission OKs Verizon tower at 17 Spring Street with riverfront mitigation

The Northampton Conservation Commission on Feb. 27 granted an order of conditions for construction of a 120-foot steel monopole and associated equipment compound for Verizon Wireless at 17 Spring Street in Florence.

The commission approved the plan after the applicant revised the layout to avoid the inner 100-foot riverfront area and added a package of riverfront enhancements and compensatory flood storage to offset a small amount of floodplain fill. Dean Gustafson, senior wetland scientist with All Points Technology, told the commission the project was revised so it “eliminated any development encroachment into the inner 100 foot riverfront area.”

The approval follows about an hour of technical briefing and commissioner questions about stormwater, long-term maintenance and invasive-species control. Consultants said the compound will be a roughly 1,800-square-foot gravel, pervious pad with equipment mounted on raised steel platforms to keep critical gear above flood elevations. Ben (last name not given), the project engineer who discussed drainage, said the design results in a small net gain in flood storage after excavation for compensatory storage: “we are actually creating a net positive of a reduction in storage of about, 320 cubic feet.”

The commission required several additional conditions beyond its standard checklist: a monitoring and reporting schedule that includes photo documentation of plantings at the end of each of the next three years; a continuing requirement to remove invasive species and replace them with native plantings in the mitigation area; and language limiting or prohibiting herbicide use in the restored riverfront area. The commission noted that long-term maintenance responsibility (for example, whether Elks Lodge or Verizon carries maintenance obligations) will be handled through the lease between the landowner and Verizon and may be reflected in permit conditions.

Louie Hasbrouck, speaking for the Elks Lodge, urged approval, saying the chosen location is on already degraded ground and “there’s no other location in the area that would would have less of a, that would have less of an environmental impact than putting the tower there.”

The commission closed the hearing and voted unanimously by roll call to grant the order of conditions. The commission’s staff had recommended conditions including invasive-species removal, plantings in approximately 4,500 square feet of riverfront enhancement and three-year photo monitoring; those items were carried into the final motion.

Details recorded in the meeting record include a 120-foot monopole, an approximately 1,800-square-foot fenced gravel compound with elevated equipment platforms, one additional utility pole to connect to the overhead distribution line, a 1,000-gallon propane tank to serve an emergency generator and planned erosion- and sediment-control measures during construction. Consultants said the antenna arrays and compound sit outside the inner 100-foot riverfront buffer after the revised layout. The applicant also submitted a Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program letter dated Nov. 18, 2024 stating no effect to state-listed rare species, and referenced a prior Order of Conditions for other work on the Elks property (file number 246-500) in its resource-area analysis.

The commission closed the item with instructions that staff verify the special conditions be included in the Order of Conditions prior to issuing the permit and that the restoration areas be protected from future development.