Barnstable Planning Board Unanimously Rejects Solar Moratorium Citizen Petition

BARNSTABLE — March 28, 2022 — Barnstable Planning Board unanimously rejects citizen petition for solar moratorium, citing legal deficiencies. The board voted 5-0 Monday to send a negative recommendation to Town Council on item 2022-134, a petition by at least 10 registered voters seeking an 11-and-a-half-month halt on large-scale ground-mounted solar photovoltaic systems. Vice Chair Steve Robichaud presided in the absence of Chairman Steve Costello. Planning staff relayed a same-day opinion from town attorney Ms. Conley identifying two fatal flaws: an open-ended duration clause reading "or until sufficient deliberation" and the absence of a defined study task for planning staff to complete during the pause. Board member Bob Twiss argued the board had already addressed the petitioners' core concerns — hazardous materials, setbacks, and battery storage — in a comprehensive solar ordinance forwarded to Town Council two weeks earlier, and pressed the petitioner to identify "what would happen during that 11 and a half months" that the board had not already done. Petition signatory Ann Salas, who spoke in favor of the moratorium, was directed to the town attorney's letter — posted on the town's project-information webpage — as a guide for redrafting.