The Rochester Planning Board was introduced to the plans for the largest solar array farm ever proposed in Rochester during an informal meeting held on January 14, and will soon entertain another four informal sessions for four additional related solar array projects all by the same developer, SunRaise Investment.
Joe Harrison of SunRaise Investment said the developer and engineering firm Beals and Thomas have been doing work at 0 Braley Hill Road since the summer of 2018 with a strategy of looking at potential solar sites in Rochester that would best fit under the town’s latest solar bylaw.
Being off Route 105, a scenic highway, solar projects are not permitted within 300 feet of the roadway.
“So we targeted some back lots and lots that… you won’t really be able to see the solar from anywhere,” Harrison said.
He said he understood that screening was a significant factor for solar array farms in Rochester.
“There’s potentially five projects that we’re working on and would anticipate submitting applications for in 2020,” said Harrison.
Braley Hill Road, the one before the board that night, is only the first.
Eric Glass, lead engineer for the project, said he has significant experience in the solar farm development field in Massachusetts.
“We find that your bylaw is very specific and the process is very specific, which we appreciate,” said Glass. “It’s not gonna be easy by any means… but we appreciate how much thought you put into your bylaw.”
Glass said it has taken some time to get the plan to the point where it was that night after attending a technical review meeting with the chairman and other town departments for feedback, and the layout he was showcasing that night was a refined layout based on the feedback he received.
Glass reviewed the map of the two parcels that together total 100 acres and pointed to abutting residences that are about 660 feet, 500 feet, and 700 feet away from the corner of the arrays.
Vegetation would be preserved between the developed portion of the land – about 40 acres of panels – and the entrance road would be curved instead of straight to eliminate any visibility into the developed solar farm.
The project was kept outside the wetlands 100-foot buffer zone, but he said the project would nonetheless file a request for Determination of Applicability with the Conservation Commission in good faith.
The project has stayed ahead of the game by already consulting with state entities and the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program to determine species habitat. There are some areas designated as Eastern Box Turtle habitat.
The project will consist of two main array fields with minimal grading and four points of stormwater control design.
“We’re really trying to minimize the ground disturbance on this project,” Glass said.
The plan was obviously not the final plan, said Glass, but the plan is what he deemed at an “advanced level.”
“We have this level of plans for the other four projects already just for technical review,” said Glass.
“Which is more than we’re used to getting at this level,” said Town Planner Steve Starrett.
Chairman Arnie Johnson briefly discussed the three bonds required for the project and also cautioned the developer that the amount of work the board’s peer-review engineer has right now is relatively high.
Johnson said he could assist in arranging the scheduling of technical reviews for the other four projects to keep things moving.
Also during the meeting, REpurpose Properties, LLC, applicant for a Special Permit to construct an age-restricted residential development beside Plumb Corner Mall on Rounseville Road, withdrew its application without prejudice in order to re-file and essentially “reset the clock” of the permitting process.
Town Counsel Blair Bailey explained that, since the public hearing has been open for so long since 2018, the process is now at the ”point where a quorum will be impossible… because of how many meetings members have missed.”
According to the Mullen Rule, members are only allowed to be absent from the hearing once.
“It’s just gotten to the point now where we’ve lost the ability to have members vote on it,” said Bailey.
Planning Board Chairman Arnie Johnson pointed out that the applicant has requested a continuance of the hearing 14 times.
That public hearing will be opened during the February 12 meeting, a Wednesday instead of a Tuesday, and the board voted to waive the application fees.
The public hearing for a large-scale solar farm off Old Middleboro Road filed by Pedro Rodriguez of Solar MA Project Management, LLC was continued until January 28.
In other business, the board approved the application for an Approval Not Required filed by the Town of Rochester for 33 Dexter Lane.
The next meeting of the Rochester Planning Board is scheduled for January 28 at 7:00 pm at the Rochester Town Hall.
Rochester Planning Board
By Jean Perry