The Rochester Conservation Commission wasn’t expecting to issue an approval for Snipatuit Road Solar, LLC’s Notice of Intent application for a large-scale solar farm off Snipatuit Road; however, after a lengthy discussion, the commission felt confident that it could cover all its bases in its written decision, even though important documents and state permits remain outstanding, possibly for many months.
The NOI had been discussed during several public meetings over the last several months. So, with few questions remaining, the applicant’s engineer, Eric Las of Beals and Thomas, Inc., asked the commission to issue an Order of Conditions and include special conditions that would allow for approval as they wait for the Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program to issue the project a conservation management permit so construction could begin. That permit, though, could take months – perhaps even a year – which, Las pointed out, would put the project at risk should the commission decide to keep the public hearing open for just as long.
On Zoom with Las was Caroline Booth, who referred to a letter from NHESP from earlier that day. But Chairman Christopher Gerrior pointed out that the letter did not give any further details than a previous letter about minimizing the impacts the project would have on the sensitive habitats at the site. “We would need to know … those things,” he said.
Booth commented that the Snipatuit Road solar project, Featherbed South Solar project, and Braley Hill North Solar project are intertwined due to the turtle habitats contained within each site, and the mitigation plan would include the full protection of surrounding land in the form of conservation restrictions to reduce further fragmenting the habitats.
Las and Booth acknowledged that no construction could start until NHESP issues the project a permit, but Matt Creighton, the commission’s peer-review consultant, cautioned the ConCom that, although it could issue approval ahead of the NHESP permit, it would be wise to wait. If the NHESP permit requires any changes to the plan, the project would have to reappear before the commission. He added that the conservation restriction must be recorded at the Registry of Deeds before the Order of Conditions anyway.
Las appealed to the commission, saying, “We’re not trying to pull a fast one here. … I just don’t see how a conservation restriction is going to change the project. … I just don’t see how in any way what we’re doing with Natural Heritage is going to change or require us to come back.” He said he trusts the NHESP to make the proper recommendations. “I just don’t see a need to delay for up to three months,” he said, noting how often commission members can come and go, and a delay would jeopardize all the work put into the project so far.
Creighton said the applicant would be “rolling the dice” if they wanted to close the public hearing now but said it was up to the commission. Las added that, even if NHESP required more to be done to protect the habitat, there is plenty of mitigation land to allow the project to go above and beyond what the project has been required to do up until now.
Booth said the Order of Conditions the commission issued for the Featherbed solar project could be referenced in the Order of Conditions for the Snipatuit Road project. It could also include the condition that all NHESP requirements be met.
Still, asked Gerrior, “How can the commission make accurate conditions to things that we don’t even know? That’s where I’m getting hung up on.”
Booth suggested a general condition requiring that the applicant obtain the conservation management permit and meet all the requirements set forth by NHESP. This would cover all that the commission requires and put it into the Order of Conditions, she said.
In the end, the commission did just that and added some conditions that Conservation Agent Merilee Kelly preferred to include.
Also during the meeting, the commission continued the Request for a Certificate of Compliance for 268 Mattapoisett Road until August 3, so the commission could visit the site and confirm that no tree-clearing has occurred within the 25-foot no-touch zone. The NOI filed by A.D. Makepeace Company, Inc. for Morse Swamp Reservoir, 0 County Road, to restore and replicate large swaths of wetlands was continued until August 3.
The next meeting of the Rochester Conservation Commission will be held on Tuesday, August 3, at 7:00 pm.
Rochester Conservation Commission
By Jean Perry