Two more new solar energy facility projects came before the Rochester Planning Board on the long night of November 9, when the meeting went roughly three hours into the night.
Rochester is becoming familiar with the nature of the solar project proposal process, and residents, one by one, are becoming more knowledgeable on the subject, too.
Some abutters to a solar farm proposed by Melink Corporation off Snipatuit Road over near Quaker Lane were getting their first lesson in solar farm development and planning, raising many of the same questions abutters to other projects have had. What about screening? Are solar panels toxic? And a new one, aren’t the tree stumps left behind after clear-cutting full of toxic chemicals?
Engineer Rich Rheaume addressed each abutter’s concern, including abutter John Hall’s concern over the size of the rocks the excavators will surely encounter, he said.
“They’re gonna find icebergs,” said Hall, concerned mostly about the amount of heavy truck traffic that would ensue after enormous rocks – too large to keep on the property – would be removed down the 18-foot gravel drive right against his property line. “There’s no space to store rocks,” continued Hall. “I’ve been very vocal about this … my property line, you don’t mess with that.”
Rheaume suggested the method of affixing the panels to the rock would be sufficient, screwing the panels into the rock with what he called a “fairly narrow screw, like a sheetrock screw,” to which Hall scoffed. Rheaume assured Hall that the project would undergo a thorough geotechnical review before construction.
The site plan, as Rheaume described it, calls for eight acres of a 16-acre parcel to be cleared for rows of solar arrays, which will abut a roughly 100-acre parcel of land Melink offered to the Town as a donation for open spaces, which the town recently accepted.
The plan calls for a no-touch 50-foot area of the eastern perimeter of the site, plus an additional double row of Leyland cypresses, with a 6-foot chain-link fence surrounding the site for security. All work will be kept outside the 100-foot wetlands buffer to avoid certain filings with the Conservation Commission.
The project has received approval from the Mattapoisett River Valley Water Supply Protection Advisory Committee and, due to the presence of eastern box turtles, has filed with the Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program and is awaiting approval.
One resident was not happy about the project, saying she never would have purchased her house 11 years ago if she knew a solar farm would eventually be built behind it.
Other neighbors had concerns over the length of the gravel drive and the gate that would be placed 100 feet down the road, which might be just long enough to appeal to those engaging in unsavory nighttime activities. Because the Town insisted on having the entry down the gravel road to accommodate a few public parking spaces for access to the newly acquired conservation land, the gate could not be put at the entrance on Snipatuit Road. Planning Board Chairman Arnold Johnson said 24-hour video surveillance might deter trespassers, even those trying to use ATVs at the site.
Johnson gave Rheaume a short list of what he wanted to see by the next meeting, which included things such as a more detailed landscaping outline and some simple “housekeeping” of paperwork. The hearing was continued until December 8, allowing enough time for the board’s peer review process and to ensure all members of the board would be present.
In other matters, a familiar player in the solar farm field was again before the board, this time for an informal review of a proposed solar farm to be located at 268 Mattapoisett Road, near the corner with New Bedford Road.
Clean Energy Collective, developers of the Clemishaw property solar farm, is interested in developing seven acres of a 12-acre lot for solar arrays. During this informal meeting with Clean Energy Collective Project Manager Greg Carey, the board granted a few waivers the developer requested, such as waiving the requirement to flag every tree of a 12-inch caliber or greater. Three utility poles will be allowed within the first 100 feet of the entrance, and a waiver for open space requirements was granted, but the board chose to hold off on granting a waiver for stormwater management.
“We’re getting more and more familiar with solar,” said Clean Energy Collective’s engineer Bob Rogers as he moved ahead into the minutiae of the project, similar details he has presented to the board before for other solar projects.
Also during the meeting, the board approved a request for an amendment to the site plan review approval for Rochester Crossroads at the intersection of Routes 58 and 28. The company recently acquired an abutting property and will now grade the land instead of having to build a retaining wall. All other details remain unchanged.
The board ratified the written decision for the Clean Energy Collective proposed solar farm at the Clemishaw property in Marion, with the access road to the facility located at 99 Perry’s Lane. After a number of continued hearings over the past few months, the project finally received Rochester’s official approval after bouncing back and forth between Marion and Rochester.
There was a lengthy discussion over the current draft of the sign bylaw the Bylaw Subcommittee has been working on. Although in the end the board voted to move forward with deferring the new language to the selectmen, one resident was vocal about government taking away residents’ constitutional right to free speech.
“I don’t like clutter,” said David Ecker. Some signs are ugly, but he does feel strongly about people’s absolute and total right to express their views.
Ecker specifically opposed language addressing political signs, which mandates that political party/candidate signs must be removed within 48 hours of an election. Ecker opposed restricting any resident’s rights further with this bylaw, but did not realize that the 48-hour rule was already written in the current bylaw. The new language simply tweaked language about not allowing campaign signs before one month leading up to an election – a change, said Johnson, “that riled some of the town officials.”
The new limited commercial district bylaw was also slightly changed as it pertains to solar energy installations after some trial and error with the proposed solar farm for a plot of woods between New Bedford Road and Dexter Lane.
Johnson said the new language includes a provision that would mandate an absolute no-touch 20-foot buffer around the perimeter of the project, and the landscaping section of the bylaw would be amended to further mitigate the cutting of trees of a 12-inch caliber or greater.
The public hearing for the Renewable Generation LLC solar energy project slated for New Bedford Road was continued until November 18.
The next meeting of the Rochester Planning Board is scheduled for November 18 at 7:00 pm at the Rochester Senior Center on Dexter Lane.
By Jean Perry
