Rochester’s Planning Board began its meeting Tuesday by putting the finishing touches on its approval of the massive Logging Swamp Solar project off of 600 Snipatuit Road.
The board endorsed the developer’s Approval Not Required application to permit the creation of four house lots within the 35-acre project. Chair Arnold Johnson said the plan had a flaw. There was inadequate frontage for at least one of the lots. Project representative Greg Sampson successfully argued there are adequate 40-foot setbacks on the plan. He added he was unsure of detailed plans for these lots. He noted simply that the property owner has asked him to create these lots.
The panel then approved the project’s draft decision, the final hurdle to allowing the solar array to be built after months of hearings that debated plan details and addressed neighbors’ concerns. The plan covers 35 acres of a 2,000-acre wooded property bordered on one side by Northern Avenue and surrounded by a 350-acre swamp.
Next, the board came close to approving the Definitive Subdivision plan for 19 County Road, West Wareham, a proposal to divide an 8.67-acre parcel into three lots. The board voted in favor of the permit waivers in the draft decision but also continued the hearing to its January 27 meeting and the decision deadline to February 14. Johnson urged the project’s representatives to have the appropriate surety bond, $760,000, in place by then.
The Site Plan Review application for a project closer to home was also continued to January 27. This is a plan to clear land behind town hall and re-grade it with a 12-inch gravel base and stone surface for an 8,220 square-foot parking area and 10-foot-wide mulched border.
Project consultant Rick Charon said the goal is to add 18 parking spaces to the Town Hall lot and correct the drainage system that pools storm water in front of Town Hall. Town Administrator Cameron Durant acknowledged that the land behind town hall has already been cleared. He did not know the project needed a Site Plan Review approval, until now.
Johnson instructed Charon to return with a more detailed plan of the drainage plan, specifically a cross-section of where the new water flow will go.
In other action, the board continued to February 10 its hearing into a modification of the “Sniptauit Ponds Estates” Definitive Subdivision Plan for Gerrish and Bishop Roads and the decision deadline to March 16. The board scheduled a site visit to the Rochester Memorial School Solar Canopy project for January 19 at 8:00 am. Johnson noted the panels are already being installed.
The Rochester Planning Board’s next meeting will be Tuesday, January 27 at 7:00 pm at Town Hall, 1 Constitution Way.
Rochester Planning Board
By Michael J. DeCicco