City Council to hold hearing on solar panels at community college

Published 12:10 am Monday, May 18, 2015

The college wants to build a one-megawatt solar array, which is being funded by a private donor, on land along Old Concord Road. The solar array would be used to provide approximately 35-40 percent of the college’s energy.  The land for the solar panels is about 4.5 acres in size and is just north of and on the other side of Old Concord Road from a neighborhood on Stone Ridge Drive.

The college is requesting the land, which it owns, be rezoned from residential to institutional campus. In all, three parcels totaling 9.6 acres, fall under the request.

Based on the design plans for the site, the solar array should not be clearly visible from Old Concord Road — it would be set back 250 feet from the street and a buffer zone, trees and shrubs, would provide “visual separation,” as city planners refer to it. The panels will face south, be 10-feet tall, and are expected to last 30 to 35 years.

When the request was before the city’s Planning Board,  it faced resistance from people who live near the proposed site of the solar array. Some people simply said they didn’t want to be able to see the panels from their homes. The Board eventually voted to recommend approval of the request, but it did set a condition that the site of the solar array have more buffering on its south side — adjacent to a residential lot — than originally planned.

Council meets Tuesday at 4 p.m. at City Hall.

During the meeting, council will also hear a presentation on the city’s proposed budget for 2015-2016 and consider setting a public hearing on the budget for June 2.