SCARBOROUGH — At a public hearing on Oct. 6, representatives of energy providers and one Scarborough resident presented concerns, support and questions to councilors regarding proposed commercial solar farm regulations.
The town is proposing amendments to Scarborough’s Zoning Ordinance that would allow energy providers to develop utility-scale solar arrays on parcels of land at least 25 acres, providing one to five megawatts of energy. These developments would be allowed in Scarborough’s rural and industrial districts.
Dan Dickinson, a representative of White Pine Land Company and a property owner at 40 Holmes Road, said that both land owners feel that their properties, though smaller than 25 acres, would be appropriate for commercial solar developments.
Marco Addonizio, on behalf of Blue Wave Solar, said he supported the amendments and asked the council to approve them before Dec. 31, when new legislation about net energy billing would go into effect.
Speaker Nick Mazuroski expanded on this, saying that energy providers will lose the ability to sell power directly after Dec. 31.
“(The ordinance) is a product of a multi-year process,” he said. “Time is now of the essence because of the grandfathering restrictions. Projects do need to obtain conditional use permits by the end of December.”
Council Chair Paul Johnson read an email from Scarborough resident Alyson Bristol, who said she was concerned that the zoning map would allow these solar farms to be sited along residential areas like Black Point and Spurwink Roads. She asked councilors to consider an overlay zone that would only allow commercial solar arrays in more remote, non-residential areas of Scarborough.
The final vote for the amendments is slated for Oct. 20, Johnson said.
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