Ahead of May’s Town Meeting, the Mattapoisett Planning Board informally discussed draft revisions at a meeting on March 2 for a proposed bylaw for solar arrays. 

The bylaw, crafted by the board’s secretary Mary Crain, is based on the progressive solar laws made by the state and laws in different cities like Dartmouth. The board focused on the restrictions on large-scale facilities.

Board member Janice Robbins wanted to make sure that the difference between large-scale and medium-scale facilities was clear “so we know where we have restrictions and not restrictions.”

The current draft states that a facility that produces over 250 kilowatts is considered a large-scale facility, and a facility that produces anywhere from 10 to 250 kilowatts is a medium-scale facility. 

Robbins also expressed concerns over future technological developments in solar energy and how that would affect future permit approvals on making additions to facilities. 

She wanted to make sure that the board continued to have oversight of any future changes that developers wanted to make on the site. 

The board agreed that developers should come before it to get permits for new installations and projects.

When discussing setbacks from roads,  board members thought that the solar farms should be at least 75 feet from roads, and that these farms should not be on scenic roads such as North Street. 

The board also agreed with the draft’s suggestion that farms should be fenced in, and have a buffer of vegetation for the fences.

The next planning board meeting is March 16 and the public hearing for the bylaw is April 6.