Vote for photovoltaic solar array delayed until 2012 town meeting

Date: 9/6/2011

Sept. 5, 2011

By Chris Maza

Reminder Assistant Editor

EAST LONGMEADOW — The town of East Longmeadow will have the opportunity to vote on a new by-law allowing the development of energy-producing photovoltaic arrays, but it won’t be at this month’s special town meeting.

The by-law, which Board of Selectmen Chair James Driscoll has heavily advocated for, is not listed as one of the 12 articles anticipated to be on the warrant for the Sept. 25 meeting, but the Planning Board is making strides toward completing it.

“It’s come down to the final draft,” Robyn Macdonald, planning director, said. “They made their final edits [at the Aug. 30 Planning Board meeting].”

Macdonald said the by-law is being prepared with the hopes it can be voted upon at the Annual Town Meeting in May 2012.

Before that can happen, she said, a public hearing must take place. By law, any by-law changes or additions must be brought before the town at such a hearing. However, that hearing cannot take place more than six months in advance of the vote to approve it. Therefore, the Planning Board must wait until the end of the year to present it.

“November would be pushing it, so most likely that hearing will take place in December,” Macdonald said. “At that hearing people will have a chance to voice their opinions about it and make suggestions on possible additional changes to the by-law.”

Driscoll has been a vocal proponent of green energy initiatives and has encouraged the Planning Board to draft such a by-law so the town could pursue solar energy projects. He told the Planning Board on July 19 he hoped the town would be able to initiate partnerships between local industrial businesses and solar array developers to generate energy savings and revenue for the town.

Macdonald added that the Planning Board had no knowledge of any impending photovoltaic projects.

The by-law would allow for the development of ground-mounted solar arrays for the purpose of energy generation on industrial land only. The Planning Board had considered also adding certain residential areas to the by-law, but ultimately opted against it.

“We decided that adding residential areas was not a good idea,” Macdonald said. “We are trying our hardest to protect the residential district so we are going to see if this works first and if we choose to, [adding residential districts to the by-law] can be revisited at a later date.”

The by-law includes a minimum space requirement of two acres and setbacks for arrays will have to “meet the requirements of the districts where they are located,” Macdonald said.

The Planning Board took into account residential abutters when drafting the by-law, adding stipulations to solar developments in close proximity to residential land.

If the parcel of land on which the solar array is located abuts a residential parcel, the setback requirement is increased to 50 feet. In addition, 25 of those 50 feet must be landscaped, including trees measuring a minimum of six feet tall at the time of planting.