Members of the Marion Energy Management Committee are determined to make their town a whole lot greener. To do so, the committee has proposed developing a “solar garden.”

Just as a community garden offers plots of land to those without lawns, the community solar garden would allow residents to access solar energy even if their homes are not ideal for solar panels.

The committee would like to see a community solar garden installed on part of the 80-acre site at the town’s former landfill.

The project would allow residents to purchase panels at the site, which would in turn lower costs on their electric bills.

For those residents looking to go green, this would be an easy and ideal solution, said committee member Dr. Jennifer Francis.

“It would allow people to buy shares and acquire solar energy without having to put solar panels on their homes,” Francis said.

Fellow committee member Bill Saltonstall agreed.

“The garden could serve in between 75 to 80 homes and businesses,” Saltonstall said.

Since its formation last year, the Energy Management Committee has been researching how the town could qualify as a “green community” under the Green Communities Act.

The state law, which was passed in 2008, promotes energy-efficiency and renewable energy use.

If a town meets criteria of the Act, Marion could then be eligible for several grants.

To be applicable for the Act, the town must adopt a new real estate construction bylaw for special areas of land as well as purchase fuel-efficient vehicles and establish an energy baseline for buildings.

The solar garden could be a major step forward for the town to achieve “green community” status, Francis said.

“This opens the door to a number of resources for the town,” she said.

Francis lamented that the town has not taken advantage of the energy and financial savings of the Green Communities Act.

“Massachusetts is the most energy-efficient state in the country for the past two years, but the town of Marion contributes nothing,” Francis said. “We are taking advantage of nothing.”

To get the ball rolling on the project, the committee members have proposed submitting an article at May Town Meeting for voters to change the town-owned land’s current zoning from residential to “by right.”

This would allow the committee to bypass the site plan review process with the town’s Planning Board, should the project meet local zoning ordinances.

“It’s an easy way to deal with one of the criteria to become a ‘green community’ if the town decides to do so,” Francis said.

However, several members of the Planning Board have disagreed.

Changing the zoning would be a mistake, said Planning Board member Tom Magauran.

“It’s premature,” Magauran said. “The Planning Board works on a project by project basis. That’s the way we’ve always done it. We don’t want to get blindsided by things we don’t understand.”

Fellow Planning Board member Ted North agreed.

“This should be treated as a commercial industrial project and be limited to the site plan review process. That’s how we do projects in Marion,” North said.

Francis added that by changing the zoning to by right, the town would not be obligated to install the solar garden and could still develop the land as the residents and officials desired.

Selectman Jody Dickerson said he was concerned with the proposed location of the solar garden.

Dickerson said much of the 80-acre site at the former landfill has been earmarked for other town projects spearheaded by the Department of Public Works.

“My concern is that this would restrict the town from doing something,” Dickerson said.

Magauran suggested the committee consider other locations for the solar garden.

Last May Town Meeting granted the Selectmen approval to lease the landfill property for the project, but that could be a long time from now, if ever.

Selectmen Chair Stephen Cushing said he was in favor of developing the project, but added that more information is needed.

“The solar approach is more palatable than say a wind turbine,” Cushing said. “It’s on land that is not necessarily utilized. It’s a start, but we’ll have to see what happens.”

As for how the committee will proceed, Francis said, “We will continue to explore this carefully to determine whether it’s a good fit for Marion or not.”