WESTFIELD – The Planning Board voted 6-0 to send a positive recommendation to the City Council which is considering the adoption of a new zoning law to regulate construction and placement of solar farms in the city.
The Planning Board members added one restriction to the proposed ordinance, limiting solar facilities to a height of 20 feet, a limit imposed to ensure that the solar panels are less visible.
The ordinance is being proposed by Ward 1 Councilor Christopher Keefe to “adopt restrictions and Planning Board review requirements for large ground-mounted solar energy facilities.”
Keefe presented the reasons the city should adopt a new zoning regulations to the board members Tuesday night.
“We did the same thing 10 years ago when cell towers began popping up everywhere,” Keefe said. “It’s the same situation now with solar energy facilities. State law says that unless there is a local legislation, and ordinance, these facilities can be constructed in any zoning district.”
Keefe said the city’s present zoning regulation “is silent on this issue”.
The Planning Board also adopted a definition for ground-mounted solar energy facilities which would fall under the requirements of the proposed ordinance. That definition stated that solar arrays of more than 5,000 square feet which are “intended to produce the majority of its electrical energy for off-site consumption” will be controlled by the ordinance restrictions.
Keefe said this morning that the 5,000-square foot footprint may be modified when the City Council conducts its public hearing on Aug. 20, 2015.
“It doesn’t take many of these panels, which are pretty much standard in size, to hit that 5,000-square foot trigger,” Keefe said. “So the council may consider a different number.”
Keefe said the height restriction is both to reduce the visual impact of the solar facilities and to ensure public safety.
“There is concern about the ‘sail effect’ if the panels are too high and the wind catches the panels,” Keefe said.
Solar facilities would be a by-right use in the Business B, Industrial A, Industrial Park and Airport districts. That use would require site plan approval by the Planning Board for facilities with a footprint greater than 30,000 square feet or within 150 feet of a residential use to mitigate “the impact of the facility from abutting properties and public ways.”
The solar facilities would also be allowed in Rural Residential district, but would require a special permit, a process which gives the Planning Board greater latitude in its review process.
