Town of Otis
Site Plan Review narrative
January 14, 2019
Town Hall Inspectors’ Office
There was no quorum of the Planning Board for the meeting, but the Public Hearing for the Site Plan Review for Clean Focus Renewables was opened at 7:02 pm and heard for the proposed Solar Farm located on Algerie Road, Map 16 Lot 85, in the Otis Town Hall Inspectors’ Room.
Present: Michael Ernst, Jen Daily, Hal Kobrin, Mike Parsons, Jim Crandall, Larry Gould, Terry Gould, Tom Ragusa, Gina Wolfman, Sonia Morrison, Bob McMahon, Jeanne Randorf, Penny Federowicz, Kathleen Williams
The Public Hearing was opened at 7:02 pm and it was noted that there was no quorum of the Planning Board so the Planning Board meeting was not opened and no decisions could be made tonight. Gina Wolfman, from Clean Focus Renewables, presented the proposed Solar Farm for installation on the property at Algerie Road owned by the Federowicz’s, Map 16 Lot 85. Clean Focus develops, contructs, and maintains all of their projects. They are known for keeping their projects and keeping close tabs on them. They have sites in 19 states.
Clean Focus Renewables plans to use approximately 30 acres of a 93.5 acres, and will keep 100 foot setbacks from all lot lines and the wetlands. There are wetlands on the property so they presented to the Otis Conservation Commission on December 18, 2018 and ConCom issued a negative declaration determination on the RDA because everything on the design was within the conservation guidelines. A six foot chain link fence with a six inch raise off the ground for wildlife will be installed around the perimeter. The Knox Trail will have a decorative seven foot solid cedar fence with native evergreens as the vegetative screening (100 foot setback) and signage will be installed along the Knox Trail. The decorative fence will also allow a six inch raise off the ground for wildlife. The solar panels supply 4.8 megawatts with 280 kilowatts of battery storage on pads in two locations on six inch thick concrete slabs. The entire area will be seeded with native grass mix. The contract is for 20 years. Under the decommissioning plan requirements, which were requested by Zoning, the Light Industrial designation will revert back to residential zoning when the solar farm ceases to exist.
The Public Hearing was closed at 7:26 pm. Discussion on this Site Plan Review and decisions will hopefully occur at the next Planning Board meeting on February 11, 2019.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lisa D’Orazio
Planning Board Clerk
Town of Otis
List of Documents
None