The three Green Communities Act zoning articles on Rochester’s Special Town Meeting warrant all passed on November 19, which means Rochester is now ready to proceed towards Green Community designation.
Board of Selectmen Chairman Greenwood “Woody” Hartley was sure he had a presentation that would eliminate any doubt that Rochester should meet the requirements of a Green Community, having Planning Board Chairman Arnie Johnson and Conservation Agent Laurell Farinon prime the voters first on the basics of Article 2, the Ground-Mounted Solar Photovoltaic Installations Overlay District. This new overlay bylaw designates the Ryder Road capped town landfill as a by-right solar array farm district and downgrades the application process from a Special Permit to a Site Review Plan, while still holding the solar developer to the Town’s Solar Bylaw in all other areas, including screening, drainage, and decommissioning bonds.
Farinon described the financial benefits to the town, including funding for energy-related projects and infrastructure upgrades, which Farinon and a small committee that included Hartley, Johnson, Building Commissioner Jim Buckles, and Facilities Manager Andrew Daniel decided was worth exploring further.
“We do feel that it’s worthy of your consideration this evening,” Farinon said.
Hartley described the immediate financial benefits of the other 210 Massachusetts municipalities that sought and received a Green Community status and got their share of the $14,798,596 the governor has awarded to Green Community cities and towns as of July 2018.
“Every single department in this town benefits from this program,” said Hartley, listing off items like energy efficient water boilers and insulated windows. “We would be improving our infrastructure before it fails us,” while using less electricity, “And that’s a big thing,” he continued. Rochester Memorial School, for example, uses roughly $120,000 in electricity every year, and spends about $60,000 in heating alone.
“All of us will benefit if we are able to get access to this money,” said Hartley. “You are in fact putting money into this right now.”
As Hartley explained, Eversource customers pay a small tax on their bill that goes towards a fund the state in turn uses to fund Green Community grants.
“So if we don’t take our share, our neighbors will enjoy it,” said Hartley. “I’d just like to see us get out money back and put it back into our town.”
The article received the 2/3 vote required to pass, while a scant two or three voters voted ‘nay’.
Article 3 was similar, only this new bylaw, the Renewable or Alternative Energy Research and development facilities, or manufacturing Facilities Overlay District Bylaw, designated the existing Industrial Zone as an “as of right” site for clean energy research, excluding wind power. The bylaw also relaxes the permitting process from a Special Permit to a Site Plan review with the Planning Board.
The article easily passed, with one lonely ‘nay’.
Article 4, the Stretch Energy Code Bylaw, was referred to as “the third leg of the stool” by Planning Board member Ben Bailey before an impassioned speech that, although he recommended the bylaw, at times sounded ambiguous, especially while he chastised the state for the “overreach of the government.”
The article, as Hartley introduced it, “Is very, very close to what our current building codes are now.”
“Not a stretch to meet anymore,” Hartley continued. “Many of the homes being built in Rochester are already being built to this code.”
But despite that, Bailey fixated on the “principle involved here,” as the energy utilities are “forced to pay tariffs” on the “supposedly bad carbon-based” energy they produce. He criticized the state’s practice of “skimming” off the tax and redistributing the money as it sees fit.
During his diatribe, Bailey went on a tangent about a tax on red meat (an idea only recently raised in the result of a UK study performed by the University of Oxford) and likened it to the tax on electricity that funds the Green Communities grants.
“I want to fight back, and I want to stop it,” said Bailey. But, he continued, “If you kick this leg out from under the stool, we don’t become a Green Community. And I don’t think we should [kick the leg out]. I think we should send the state a message.”
Next, Bailey asked what the townspeople would be “putting on the line” if they didn’t adopt the Stretch Code. His answer: $45.45 per person in Rochester ($249,975).
“If you vote to do this yet you disagree with the principle of the government taxing us on what we must do (buy electricity),” Bailey continued, identifying himself as a man from Lexington, Mass., where the American Revolution started, “Then for $45.45 you’ve done less than those people in Lexington did with their lives.”
“It’s great to make a statement,” said Hartley, “it’s great to make a point. I don’t think we’re going to start a revolution tonight.”
Town Clerk and former selectman Naida Parker said she appreciated Bailey’s position about taxation, but added, “But the place to fight the battle is in the legislature. …To turn this down is like cutting off our nose to spite our face. If we choose to not participate in the program, then that money will go to other communities.”
Resident Amy Johnson said, “The thing to realize is that is tax goes for the energy that we use, and I think a lot of us realize that climate change – we’re in the middle of climate change. [The Green Communities program] is beneficial to us, not only to get our taxes back … but to try to maintain a cleaner, safer environment.”
The article passed, with six or seven ‘nays’ that followed one loud collective ‘aye’.
Other articles that passed:
Article 1 to amend the zoning bylaws by re-numbering the headings sections and amend certain non-zoning bylaw sections by re-numbering them.
Article 5 to amend the Zoning Bylaws Multi-Family to allow new constructions and conversions of multi-family houses without a Special Permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals, as long as they conform to lot size, setbacks, and frontage designated for two-, three-, and other multi-family houses.
Article 6 to amend the Accessory Structure Dimensional table. This article generated some confusion amongst voters, especially those who have multiple “sheds” and chicken coops on their properties. Language that read “no more than two structures per lot” as it pertains to not being used for animals was struck via an amendment to the article. Some voters were concerned about how residents might house animals and chickens if these structures were not allowed, and an article to amend the bylaw very well could appear on the warrant of the next Annual Town Meeting.
Article 7 to amend the Zoning Bylaw to insert a definition of “Temporary Storage Unit” and regulations that restrict front yard temporary structures to no more than seven consecutive days, not to exceed three times per year.
Article 8 to amend the zoning bylaw by adding a section “A” titled “Guiding Principle” that reads: “Preserve the rural nature of Rochester while maintaining residential growth and value in a manner that is consistent with the Town’s Master Plan and Right to Farm By-law.”
A part “B” was also added titled “Specific Objectives” that reads: “1. Encourage and protect the agricultural interests; 2. Maintain residential housing growth consistent with a rural environment; 3. Accommodate in-home family businesses; 4. Allow diverse options that can promote open space; 5. Protect wildlife habitats.
Article 9 to amend the General Regulations Section XI H. Boats by inserting “A temporary waiver may be issued to allow use of combustion engine boats for scientific or environmental purposes as approved by the Board of Selectmen provided appropriate safeguards are in place,” on Snows Pond and Mary’s Pond.
Article 10 to appropriate $18,000 to fund the update of VISION software, hardware, and/or storage services for the ongoing valuation of property.
Article 11 to appropriate $10,000 to hire a grant writer/consultant to provide grant-writing services to the Town.
Rochester Special Town Meeting
By Jean Perry