Government Spotlight

Residents weigh in on solar project; Route 26 storage facility to expand

Site map from visual impact assessment submitted by Novel Energy |

| Joanne Cole |

Visual buffers, fencing and wildlife, preservation of rural views, decommissioning plans and diminished property values were among concerns raised by speakers at a public hearing on Novel Energy Solutions’ proposed solar farm at the Planning Board on September 20. The project would be the town’s first significant ground-mounted array, with 2,472 panels occupying about 11 acres of a 60-acre parcel off Lewiston Road near the Turnpike (Map 10 Lot 48-C).

Immediately following the hearing, the Planning Board discussed the issues with Novel manager Brittney Krebsbach. The upshot: Krebsbach will return with revisions, clarifications and additional information and the board’s review will continue.

In other action, the board approved a proposal for added storage buildings and space at All-Purpose Storage on Route 26.

Novel Energy public hearing. Leading off the public hearing was Michael Skolnick, an attorney representing Stephen Daddio, whose property directly abuts the planned installation. Screening between Daddio’s parcel and the array was Skolnick’s first concern. The ordinance calls for 50 feet of buffer, he said, but Novel’s plan has only 25 feet and relies on trees that are actually on Daddio’s land. Board members and Novel’s Krebsbach later acknowledged the point about the buffer and also that a setback should be farther from Daddio’s property line. Novel will make the adjustments.

Skolnick also took issue with the visual impact assessment Novel commissioned. Because the community and abutters alike have an interest in how the array will look, the ordinance requires a visual impact assessment by a qualified professional. Skolnick noted that Novel’s study was done in summer with leaves providing screening, not how it would look in winter. Novel is also required to describe its efforts to mitigate visual impacts, Skolnick said, but did not.

Diminished property values, a consideration under the ordinance, was another issue Skolnick raised. He shared two academic studies, one of them from URI, showing that replacing green areas with solar arrays reduced nearby property values by seven percent.

Stephen Daddio also spoke and told the board that he left South Boston and chose New Gloucester for its rural character. The project would not only harm him, he said, but also the broader community, a point resident Stephen Hathorne echoed.

Daddio also questioned whether this “massive project behind my property” would ever generate electricity. There is a waiting list to connect to CMP’s Auburn substation, he said. Krebsbach later assured him that Novel’s interconnection agreement with CMP is “signed and set.”

Touching on the visual impact assessment was resident Terry DeWan, in a letter. DeWan is a landscape architect and recommended including a VIA requirement when the town’s solar ordinance was being developed. Regarding Novel’s VIA, DeWan noted among other points that it doesn’t address glare or whether the panels will be coated to reduce glare. Krebsbach later said glare has not been an issue on Novel’s more than 200 projects.

Wildlife and the chain link fence around the array were on resident Carl Wilcox’s mind. Deer can easily clear eight feet, even ten “if they’re motivated,” Wilcox said, leaving them trapped inside the enclosure. He described features that deter deer from jumping fences in the first place. Also, would coyotes and bobcats be able to pass below the fence, Wilcox wanted to know, or just small creatures? Krebsbach later explained that Novel is working directly with Inland Fisheries & Wildlife on appropriate fencing.

When it was her turn, in addition to responding to residents’ and board members’ questions, Krebsbach offered an overview. The project would generate the equivalent of power for 200 to 250 homes, she said, and although Novel is based in Minnesota, the company would “lean into local talent,” she said, for planning, construction and ongoing operations. It has an office in Maine and multiple projects under way here, including in Winthrop, Presque Isle, Auburn and Lewiston. As an example of Novel’s willingness to listen, she cited its dropping the height of the panels on this project from 35 feet to a maximum of 12 feet at full tilt, in response to abutters’ concerns.

All told, Krebsbach and the board made progress on several open issues. Still challenging, however, is the matter of de-commissioning. The ordinance requires a solar developer to provide a plan for de-commissioning and to provide financial guarantees in the event the array is abandoned. Peer analysis of the plan and estimated costs is also required. Apparently, the technology is new enough that hard data on costs of dismantling and recycling or properly disposing of panels is both hard to come by and to predict.

Krebsbach will continue to work on the de-commissioning questions and the other open items and will be back.

Novel Energy’s Brittney Krebsbach responds to a board member’s question

Additions at All-Purpose Storage okayed. Patriot Holdings’ proposal to add two new storage buildings and enlarge two others at All-Purpose Storage at 41 Maine Street (Route 26) was approved by the board. The 12-acre property currently has seven storage buildings and two smaller sheds and is in the Residential C and Groundwater Protection Overlay districts (Map 2 Lot 8). Self-storage businesses are allowed in the zone, according to Town Planner Natalie Thomsen.

The main question for the board was the extent of impervious surface at the site. To limit effects of stormwater runoff and preserve water absorption and infiltration, the ordinance limits impervious surface to no more than 30 percent of the lot. Roofs and structures count. Engineer Jeff Amos of Terradyn Consultants, representing the owner, acknowledged that the property was already over the limit, even before adding 12,000 s.f. and 16,000 s.f. buildings, 80’ and 70’ additions and new asphalt. “I’m wondering how much impervious surface we can keep allowing when our ordinance says 30 percent and they’re already over it,” said Board Chair said Chair Doug McAtee. “In my mind, we’re making it worse.”

But because the plan also includes re-vegetation of 14,600 s.f. of what’s now hard-packed gravel, the net effect would be a reduction of impervious surface, Amos argued. McAtee appeared to question whether gravel is impervious, but in the end, the board concluded that the incoming vegetation would make a non-conforming situation less so, and thus permissible. With the new structures and additions going in at the rear of the lot, visual buffers, lighting and other typical considerations weren’t really an issue.

With no concerns having been raised by neighbors, the board decided not to hold a public hearing or do a site walk. They approved the application, subject to a few clarifications and fire marshal review.

Jeff Amos indicates one of two storage buildings at All-Purpose Storage on Route 26 | screenshot from meeting video

To watch the September 20, 2022 Planning Board meeting and public hearing, click here. For agendas and other information, check the Planning Board page at this link.