PORTSMOUTH — The Town Council has implemented a six-month moratorium on all new applications for medium- and large-scale ground-mounted solar facilities, a decision that was met with a …
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PORTSMOUTH — The Town Council has implemented a six-month moratorium on all new applications for medium- and large-scale ground-mounted solar facilities, a decision that was met with a smattering of applause Monday night at Town Hall.
The 4-0 vote does not impact any medium- or large-scale solar developments that are currently under town review.
The action was taken to give the council time to schedule a workshop with the Planning Board to formally review the solar ordinance which was approved in December 2020 but has come under fire from abutters of larger solar facilities.
On Nov. 8, the council voted unanimously to prohibit all medium- and large-scale solar arrays from being located in residential zones, and also approved two other amendments to the ordinance:
• The original 50-foot minimal setback was increased to 100 feet when a solar array is adjacent to commercial or light industrial property; and to 150 feet when it’s next to property zoned residential.
• No more than 20 percent of the area covered by the solar panels can be on cleared woodlands, and the total area of cleared woodland cannot exceed 20,000 square feet.
The council also considered enforcing a temporary moratorium during the Nov. 8 meeting, but decided against it because the matter wasn’t listed on the agenda. The moratorium was supposed to have been on the Nov. 22 agenda, but was inadvertently left off.
All of the council’s changes will be reviewed during the joint meeting with the Planning Board, which will take place sometime after the new year.
“At least this would give us a six-month window,” said Council President Kevin Aguiar, one of four members present Monday night. The others were Keith Hamilton, Leonard Katzman, and Andrew Kelly.