[Massplanners] Solar Bylaw - prohibition against large-scale cutting / clearing

[Thomas Bott]

Dear Planners:
The Town of Falmouthadopted a Large-Scale Ground-Mounted Solar OverlayDistrict and Bylaw in Fall 2018 based on the Commonwealth's modelbylaw that I wrote initially for the ToK and amended for Falmouth. We designedthe Overlay District by using aerial photography to identify previouslydisturbed area.
ARTICLE 8: To see if thetown will vote to amend the Zoning Bylaw by adding a new Article XLIIILarge-Scale Ground-Mounted Solar Overlay District - and to amend the OfficialZoning Map by adding a Large-Scale Ground-Mounted Solar Overlay District alongthe Blacksmith Shop Corridor proximal to the power line easement on largeparcels where tree cover and land formshave previously been impacted,...EXPLANATION: Thisamendment would seek to create an overlay district for large scale solar projectson appropriately-sized land forms, suchas previously mined areas, and would include reference to Department ofEnergy Resources siting best practices. The overlay would include approximately151± acres for large scale solar. The article also includes a decommissioningbond. § 240-254Siteplan review design and operation standards.D. Land clearing, soil erosion and habitat impacts. Clearing ofnatural vegetation shall be limited to what is necessary for the construction,operation and maintenance of solar energysystem or otherwise prescribed by applicable laws, regulations, and bylaws.
(1) Notmore than two acres of forest land shall be deforested for any oneground-mounted solar photovoltaicinstallation, and no such installation shall be placed on such land that wasdeforested within the prior five years.

(2)  Landclearing in excess of two contiguous acres in connection with any singleinstallation is prohibited.

 In 2019 the Overlay District was expanded, by request, toinclude the Barnstable County Fairgrounds and allow the installation of solarcarports over their fields of grass parking lots. The effect was to allowpatrons to park (and perhaps tailgate) under the canopies that were generallyoutside on the sight of neighboring houses to shade vehicle without throwingshade at the neighbors.  The canopiesalso capture clean stormwater from the panels and infiltrate it directly into theground rather than have that stormwater run through the grass mingling with whatevermight have dripped from the bottom of the mostly internal combustion poweredvehicles previously parked there. Only a handful of trees were cut.

This was inspired by theMass Audubon’s  Losing Ground Report thatnoted: 

13.5acres developed per day

FromJune 2012 to June 2017, approximately 24,700 acres of natural land wereconverted to development in Massachusetts, translating to a pace of 13.5 acresper day through this 5-year period. Nearly 30,000 acres of forest were lostduring this time period, some developed and some cleared. Open land, includinggrasslands, agriculture, and unvegetated land, increased by approximately 6,800acres, and wetlands increased by just over 2,200 acres.

~1/4of new development was solar-related

Therate of development increased slightly from the 13 acres/day reported in thefifth edition of Losing Ground (2005-2013), but is still down from the 20acres/day reported in the fourth edition (1999-2005). A new type of landdevelopment—ground-mounted solar photovoltaic arrays—contributed a significantproportion: as much as one-fourth of total new development in recent years.
In 2021 the Overlay District was expanded again by petition(I don’t have that language handy)  toallow a 100+ acre golf course to be included in an overlay district. Thepetitioner citing that a golf course was a previously disturbed area andrequesting a larger area to be cleared allowing more tree-cutting limited tonot more than four acres, or 10 percent of the parcel, whichever is less.Mitigation by replanting twice the area cleared with a landscape plan approvedby the Planning Board that includes pollinator species. Likely pollinatorspecies is not defined nor is there a list of species defined. Both of whichwould be very helpful.https://www.capenews.net/falmouth/news/falmouth-planning-board-approves-solar-farm-at-cape-cod-country-club/article_964a23c2-fe22-5475-a636-207034f5ef5a.html
Here is Carver, where they have many Solar projectspermitted likely contributing to Mass Audubon’s report, there are three different solar moratoria on the Town Meeting Warrant, one from the SelectBoard and twopetitioned. Solar is in section 3580 oftheir bylaw, so far I’ve only read to section 3574.1 . Stay tuned.
TBott

Thomas Bott Interim Carver Town Planner
You too could follow me on Twitter @TBottPlimoth but it clearly isn’t necessary 

    On Wednesday, February 23, 2022, 12:42:54 PM EST, Town Administration via MassPlanners <massplanners at masscptc.org> wrote:  
 
  #yiv3549500827 P {margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;}Good afternoon, planners!

Westhampton is looking to harden its solar energy bylaw to prohibit strip-cutting of large areas of land in order to facilitate large-scale solar.  While solar is STRONGLY encouraged on roofs, over parking lots, and etc, we don't want swaths of panels replacing our pines.

Has anyone implemented zoning bylaw that addresses this?  Have you had such successfully approved by the AG?

Respectfully,
- Doug.
-----------------------------
Douglas Finn, Administrative Assistant
Town of Westhampton
1 South Road
Westhampton, MA 01027
413-203-3086
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