Letter/Update: Public Hearing On Shutesbury Road Solar Project Remains On 24 August ZBA Agenda Despite Expired Wetland Permit
Red tailed hawk on solar panels. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
The 2020 wetland permit for the Shutesbury Road Solar Project expired on August 10, 2023. Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) Rules & Regulations list wetland delineation as a requirement for a complete application. In a 2016 document “How to Hold a Public Hearing,” the town’s attorney, KP Law, addresses the ZBA’s legal requirements when considering an application for a Special Permit: “For Application hearings, the Chair should confirm that the application is complete.”
Nevertheless, Director of the Planning Department Christine Brestrup has confirmed that a public hearing on this project, which will clear-cut 41 acres of forested land to install 10 acres of solar panels, will take place on August 24. In response to queries about the expired wetland permit Brestrup stated:
“The plans that were submitted by PURESKY do show wetlands located on the site. The wetlands need to be field checked and then the edges of the wetlands approved by the Conservation Commission.”
The Conservation Commission has explained that PURESKY will be required to submit a NOI (Notice of Intent) and ANRAD (Abbreviated Notice of Resource Area Delineation) to obtain a new wetland permit (ORAD), based on current conditions.
Additional concerns regarding the application are evident in staff comments, available in the ZBA Packet for August 24.
There has been no response to my requests that the town consult with KP Law on opening the public hearing for this Shutesbury Rd Solar Project.
Here is the Zoom link and ZBA agenda for the meeting on Thursday, August 24 at 6 pm.
Jenny Kallick
Jenny Kallick is a resident of Amherst and a member of Smart Solar Amherst
The Planning Department did consult with KP Law in response to a request by Jenny Kallick. KP Law agreed that the ZBA could and should open the public hearing on the Shutesbury Road project on August 24. Not doing so could have resulted in a “constructive grant” of the Special Permit, without the benefit of review by the ZBA and without an opportunity to impose conditions.
The attorney from KP Law also agreed that it is typical and correct procedure for a ZBA Special Permit public hearing to proceed while a parallel public hearing and review is being conducted by the Conservation Commission, to review and approve the flagged wetland areas and to review the proposed project. There is no requirement that the applicant have an “approved” wetland delineation prior to the public hearing proceeding, only that the wetlands be shown on the submitted plans.