<html><head></head><body><div class="ydp5be9eab6yahoo-style-wrap" style="font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size:16px;"><div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"> <div><p class="ydp8d302b66MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Times New Roman,serif;mso-fareast-font-family:Times New Roman;color:black">Dear Planners:</span></p>
<div style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Times New Roman,serif;mso-fareast-font-family:Times New Roman;color:black">The Town of Falmouth
adopted a <a href="https://ecode360.com/34130738" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" class="">Large-Scale Ground-Mounted Solar Overlay
District</a> and Bylaw in Fall 2018 based on the Commonwealth's model
bylaw that I wrote initially for the ToK and amended for Falmouth. We designed
the Overlay District by using aerial photography to identify previously
disturbed area.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br></span></div><div style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">ARTICLE 8: To see if the
town will vote to amend the Zoning Bylaw by adding a new Article XLIII
Large-Scale Ground-Mounted Solar Overlay District - and to amend the Official
Zoning Map by adding a Large-Scale Ground-Mounted Solar Overlay District along
the Blacksmith Shop Corridor proximal to the power line easement on large
parcels </span><b style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">where tree cover and land forms
have previously been impacted,...</b></div><div style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">EXPLANATION: This
amendment would seek to create an overlay district for large scale solar projects
on appropriately-sized land forms, </span><b style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">such
as previously mined areas</b><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">, and would include reference to Department of
Energy Resources siting best practices. The overlay would include approximately
151± acres for large scale solar. The article also includes a decommissioning
bond.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><b><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;mso-fareast-font-family:Times New Roman;color:#333333"> </span></b></div><div style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><b><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;mso-fareast-font-family:Times New Roman;color:#333333">§ 240-254Site
plan review design and operation standards.</span></b></div><div style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">D. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">Land clearing, soil erosion and habitat impacts. Clearing of
natural vegetation shall be limited to what is necessary for the construction,
operation and maintenance of <span style="background:yellow">solar</span> energy
system or otherwise prescribed by applicable laws, regulations, and bylaws.</span></div>
<p class="ydp8d302b66MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;mso-fareast-font-family:Times New Roman;color:#333333"><a href="https://ecode360.com/34130780#34130780" title="240-254D(1)" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><b><span style="color:#333333">(1) </span></b></a>Not
more than two acres of forest land shall be deforested for any one
ground-mounted <span style="background:yellow">solar</span> photovoltaic
installation, and no such installation shall be placed on such land that was
deforested within the prior five years.</span></p>
<p class="ydp8d302b66MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;mso-fareast-font-family:Times New Roman;color:#333333"><a href="https://ecode360.com/34130781#34130781" title="240-254D(2)" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><b><span style="color:#333333">(2) </span></b></a> Land
clearing in excess of two contiguous acres in connection with any single
installation is prohibited.</span></p>
<p class="ydp8d302b66MsoNormal"> In 2019 the Overlay District was expanded, by request, to
include the Barnstable County Fairgrounds and allow the installation of solar
carports over their fields of grass parking lots. The effect was to allow
patrons to park (and perhaps tailgate) under the canopies that were generally
outside on the sight of neighboring houses to shade vehicle without throwing
shade at the neighbors. The canopies
also capture clean stormwater from the panels and infiltrate it directly into the
ground rather than have that stormwater run through the grass mingling with whatever
might have dripped from the bottom of the mostly internal combustion powered
vehicles previously parked there. Only a handful of trees were cut.</p>
<p class="ydp8d302b66MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Times New Roman,serif;mso-fareast-font-family:Times New Roman;color:black">This was inspired by the
Mass Audubon’s <span> </span>Losing Ground Report that
noted:</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="ydp8d302b66MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;mso-outline-level:2;background:white;vertical-align:baseline"><b><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:inherit,serif;mso-fareast-font-family:Times New Roman;mso-bidi-font-family:Times New Roman;color:#70AD47;mso-themecolor:accent6;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;mso-border-alt:none windowtext 0in;padding:0in">13.5
acres developed per day</span></b><b><span style="font-size:14.5pt;font-family:Corbel,sans-serif;mso-fareast-font-family:Times New Roman;mso-bidi-font-family:Times New Roman;color:#70AD47;mso-themecolor:accent6"></span></b></p>
<p class="ydp8d302b66MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:.5in;line-height:normal;background:white;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:Corbel,sans-serif;mso-fareast-font-family:Times New Roman;mso-bidi-font-family:Times New Roman;color:#70AD47;mso-themecolor:accent6">From
June 2012 to June 2017, approximately 24,700 acres of natural land were
converted to development in Massachusetts, translating to a pace of 13.5 acres
per day through this 5-year period. Nearly 30,000 acres of forest were lost
during this time period, some developed and some cleared. Open land, including
grasslands, agriculture, and unvegetated land, increased by approximately 6,800
acres, and wetlands increased by just over 2,200 acres.</span></p>
<p class="ydp8d302b66MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;mso-outline-level:2;background:white;vertical-align:baseline"><b><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:inherit,serif;mso-fareast-font-family:Times New Roman;mso-bidi-font-family:Times New Roman;color:#70AD47;mso-themecolor:accent6;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;mso-border-alt:none windowtext 0in;padding:0in">~1/4
of new development was solar-related</span></b><b><span style="font-size:14.5pt;font-family:Corbel,sans-serif;mso-fareast-font-family:Times New Roman;mso-bidi-font-family:Times New Roman;color:#70AD47;mso-themecolor:accent6"></span></b></p>
<p class="ydp8d302b66MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:.5in;line-height:normal;background:white;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:Corbel,sans-serif;mso-fareast-font-family:Times New Roman;mso-bidi-font-family:Times New Roman;color:#70AD47;mso-themecolor:accent6">The
rate of development increased slightly from the 13 acres/day reported in the
fifth edition of Losing Ground (2005-2013), but is still down from the 20
acres/day reported in the fourth edition (1999-2005). A new type of land
development—ground-mounted solar photovoltaic arrays—contributed a significant
proportion: as much as one-fourth of total new development in recent years.</span></p>
<div>In 2021 the Overlay District was expanded again by petition
(I don’t have that language handy) <span> </span>to
allow a 100+ acre golf course to be included in an overlay district. The
petitioner citing that a golf course was a previously disturbed area and
requesting a larger area to be cleared allowing more tree-cutting limited to
not more than four acres, or 10 percent of the parcel, whichever is less.
Mitigation by replanting twice the area cleared with a landscape plan approved
by the Planning Board that includes pollinator species. Likely pollinator
species is not defined nor is there a list of species defined. Both of which
would be very helpful.</div><div><a href="https://www.capenews.net/falmouth/news/falmouth-planning-board-approves-solar-farm-at-cape-cod-country-club/article_964a23c2-fe22-5475-a636-207034f5ef5a.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" class="">https://www.capenews.net/falmouth/news/falmouth-planning-board-approves-solar-farm-at-cape-cod-country-club/article_964a23c2-fe22-5475-a636-207034f5ef5a.html</a></div><div><br></div><div>Here is Carver, where they have many Solar projects
permitted likely contributing to Mass Audubon’s report, there are three different solar moratoria on the Town Meeting Warrant, one from the SelectBoard and two
petitioned. Solar is in section 3580 of
their bylaw, so far I’ve only read to section 3574.1 . Stay tuned.<br></div></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">TBott</div></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><br></div><div><br></div><div class="ydp5be9eab6signature"><div style="font-family:new times, serif;font-size:16px;"><div>Thomas Bott Interim Carver Town Planner</div><div><br></div><div><i id="ydpfb687fb8yiv6753380931yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1519652102965_53159" style="background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font id="ydpfb687fb8yiv6753380931yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1519652102965_53160" color="#4c76a2">You too could follow me on Twitter @TBottPlimoth but it clearly isn’t necessary</font></i></div></div></div></div>
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On Wednesday, February 23, 2022, 12:42:54 PM EST, Town Administration via MassPlanners <massplanners@masscptc.org> wrote:
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Good afternoon, planners!<br>
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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.<br>
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Has anyone implemented zoning bylaw that addresses this? Have you had such successfully approved by the AG?<br>
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Respectfully,</div>
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- Doug.<br>
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Douglas Finn, Administrative Assistant<br>
Town of Westhampton<br>
1 South Road<br>
Westhampton, MA 01027<br>
413-203-3086<br>
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</div>-- <br>MassPlanners mailing list<br><a ymailto="mailto:MassPlanners@masscptc.org" href="mailto:MassPlanners@masscptc.org">MassPlanners@masscptc.org</a><br><a href="http://masscptc.org/mailman/listinfo/massplanners_masscptc.org" target="_blank">http://masscptc.org/mailman/listinfo/massplanners_masscptc.org</a><br></div>
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