The Holyoke City Ordinance Committee voted to receive and adopt a Planning Board recommendation and forward two zone‑change requests — 736 Dwight Street and 712–718 Dwight Street — to the full City Council for final action.

The Planning Board, in a written recommendation read into the record by committee staff, said it met on Feb. 25, 2025, considered both applications and voted unanimously to recommend that the City Council adopt a zoning map change from BL to Doctor for the parcels. The recommendation said Doctor zoning “is particularly appropriate to the historical character of the neighborhood and to the city’s goals” and would allow development of duplex and triplex housing immediately on the parcels.

Committee members moved to receive and adopt the Planning Board’s recommendation and send the items as a package to the full council. The motion passed on a roll‑call vote; members recorded voting yes included Councilor Bacon, Councilor Jenny Rivera, Councilor David Burley, Councilor Meg McGrath Smith and the committee chair (recorded in the minutes as a yes vote).

Councilor Bartley commented that the applicants were a “known entity” and said the change represented a positive turn for that corner of the city. Committee members confirmed the applications will be filed separately and that each ordinance will list the specific parcel addresses so the record is clear when the items reach full council.

The Planning Board and the city’s planning staff noted there were no written objections from adjacent property owners in the record and that the parcels abut existing Doctor‑zoned property, reducing concerns about spot zoning. The committee did not change the substance of the Planning Board recommendation; it only voted to forward the items in legal form for the City Council’s consideration.

Next steps: The committee will send the adopted recommendation language to the Law Department for formal ordinance drafting and place the items on the full City Council agenda for a public hearing and final vote.