ROBERT PAUL
WESTFIELD – The City Council voted Thursday night to approve the first reading of a zoning ordinance to control the placement of commercial solar farms in the city.
Ward 1 Councilor Christopher Keefe said that state law authorized the construction of commercial solar arrays anywhere in the commonwealth unless there are local controls put into place. The vote last night began the process of restricting solar farms to certain zoning districts.
Keefe is seeking approval of the ordinance by the City Council and recommendations from the Planning Board because currently the city’s code of zoning ordinance is silent on these issues and under state law (Massachusetts General Law Chapter 40A, Section 3, (which addresses zoning exemptions) those facilities can be located anywhere if not locally regulated.
“This won’t affect the average citizen who wants to put a solar panel on his roof or on his property,” Keefe said. ”Large solar arrays (of more than 5,000 square feet) would be allowed, as a by-right use, in the Industrial A, Business A and Industrial Park and Airport zones and in the Rural Residential zone by special permit from the Planning Board.”
Keefe said the Planning Board amended the language of the ordinance to add a height restriction.
“The Planning Board wants a 24-foor height restriction, although I don’t know if that’s needed because panels higher than 10 feet go from being fixed to unfixed in the wind because they become sails,” Keefe said.
Ward 5 Councilor Robert A. Paul, Sr. said the height restriction may address future changes in solar panel technology.
“Twenty years from now, as the technology changes, the solar facilities could be 40 to 60 foot high in height, so I believe the ordinance needs the height restriction,” Paul said.
