Southwick Planning Board Reelects Thornton as Chair, Spina as Vice Chair

SOUTHWICK — May 26, 2026 — Southwick Planning Board reelects its leadership and processes a full slate of permits and master plan items. At its May 26 meeting, the board reelected Jessica Thornton as chair and Daya Spina as vice chair in its annual reorganization, with Thornton winning 4-0 (abstaining herself) and Spina 5-0 (abstaining himself). The board continued a long-pending public hearing on a four-lot estate subdivision at 6 South Loomis Street to June 16 after confirming that a peer-reviewed stormwater plan had cleared review by Tyne Bond and DPW, with a written decision to be drafted in the interim. A 4-0 vote extended outdoor cooking permission at Grape's Tea House, 157 Feeding Hills Road, through December 1 — one day per weekend — while a request to expand to two days was deferred pending a site plan amendment. The board also voted 4-0 to endorse an Approval Not Required subdivision plan for 67 Hudson Drive, after a pointed exchange over the legal status of a historic roadway labeled "Sam West Road" crossing the parcel. A 5-0 omnibus vote approved a batch of Master Plan Implementation Committee action items, including two Select Board cancellation requests and a split of the town's housing production plan requirement into two separately tracked obligations.