Westport's solar priority: Protect our views

Vistas key as Westport planners draft solar rule changes

By Bruce Burdett
Posted 1/11/19

WESTPORT — Protecting Westport’s cherished views would be a priority in a revised set of solar rules approved last week by the Planning Board and sent on to the Board of Selectmen.

The …

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Westport's solar priority: Protect our views

Vistas key as Westport planners draft solar rule changes

Posted

WESTPORT — Protecting Westport’s cherished views would be a priority in a revised set of solar rules approved last week by the Planning Board and sent on to the Board of Selectmen.

The planners’ hope isn that the amended solar bylaw will be put before voters at next spring’s annual town meeting in time to help the board deal with what has become a flood of applications — met by loads of unhappy neighbors.

Changes approved by the board address such things as setbacks, access, dimensions, borders, maintenance and more.

But for board member Robert Daylor, who played a large part in drafting the revisions, those views are particularly important.

“My overriding reaction to all of these systems is that if they were to end up being sited on many of the landscape features that we have … open fields, in many cases long vistas that look out at the river … it would clearly change the character of the town.

“At least from the comments I have received from the public, nobody I have talked to wants to have that happen,” Mr. Daylor said. Over the holidays, he said, the question he got was “What are you folks going to do to prevent this threat?”

By their very nature, solar facilities have a commercial, industrial look, he said — they have mechanical and electrical equipment; all of those approved so far have tall poles — “It is really inconsistent with the agricultural and residential character of the district.”

At the same time, they bring green infrastructure and climate benefits, Mr. Daylor said. “We know that there are a lot of these coming before us and we know the current bylaw does not prevent” such facilities from interfering with views.

“The sense of the public that I have” (is that) “‘If we have to have these we don’t want to see them in a way that changes the character of the town.’”

The bylaw, he said, “should reflect that sentiment,” adding that he does not believe it to be a “NIMBY” outlook. “This is a bigger public interest,” he said, and is being expressed by people who do not necessarily live next door to a solar project.

Board Chairman James Whitin agreed, noting though that “the state requires us not to unreasonably regulate these things. I believe that allowing it in the agricultural-residential district is a privilege … Our quest is to get the bylaw to the point where we are not unreasonably regulating; we are allowing them but if you really want (to build a solar facility) here, you’ve got to play by our rules, by how we feel about the town.”

Town Planner James Hartnett noted that some towns have gone so far as to require that solar facilities not be allowed closer than 500 from roadways.

The language approved by the board does not go that far but does require that views be protected and some setbacks broadened.

Topography, screening and natural landscape buffers should be used in steps to minimize visual impact from residential areas, public streets and waterways, the new rule states.

Solar facilities “shall jot be approved unless the board finds that the designs provide screening and buffers that protect scenic vistas.”

At least one project already approved is clearly visible from a busy roadway, the board noted; and an application recently received appears to present the same concern.

And they also mentioned that while much of central Village is zoned for business, people would likely not appreciated fields there being transformed to solar projects.

Solar bylaw changes

Other proposed additions and changes offered by the Planning Board include …

• The applicants must protect property next door by providing adequate screening and buffers between the property line and solar array.

2. A minimum lot size of 5 acres would be required.

3. A minimum setback of 100 feet would be required from solar panels to property lines.

4. A minimum setback of 250 feet would be required to street lines in agricultural-residential districts; 150 feet in business districts.

• A minimum setback of 100 feet would be required to a wetlands resource.

• Herbicides shall not be used in solar facilities. Grass and weeds should be controlled by mowing and or grazing by farm animals.

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A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.