AGAWAM – The city of Agawam is moving closer toward solving where solar farms can and cannot be built.

City Council President Christopher Johnson told Reminder Publications that the Council is considering abandoning the idea of establishing overlay districts, and instead, creating special permits for potential solar farm owners.

“Given where the town is, timeline-wise, the thought process is that it makes more sense to do it on a case-by-case basis,” he said. “An overlay district would take months to intelligently and successfully create.”  

Photovoltaic systems and their placement has been a hot-button issue in Agawam and recent efforts to amend zoning regulations have failed. Currently, there are no town ordinances or bylaws that address not only the zoning requirements for where the solar energy systems can and can’t go, but other issues such as the size.

Solar farms – sometimes known as solar parks or solar fields – are the large-scale application of solar photovoltaic panels to generate green, clean electricity at scale, usually to feed into the grid.

“We’re talking about large, ground-mounted solar arrays that are used to generate electricity,” said Johnson. “We’re not talking about solar panels people put on the roofs of their houses.”     

The solar farms Johnson described can cover anything between one acre and 100 acres, and are usually developed in rural or industrial areas. The farms go through a rigorous planning procedure before they’re approved, taking into account the suitability of the specific site, potential impact on the area and relevant renewable energy targets.

In the Bay State, the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (RPS) requires retail electricity suppliers, both regulated distribution utilities and competitive suppliers, to obtain a percentage of the electricity they serve to their customers from qualifying renewable energy facilities.

When Eversource wanted to build two solar farms in Agawam last year, Northampton Attorney Michael Pill argued that the company’s proposal was not allowed in residential or agricultural zoning districts. However, the City Council rejected a proposed ordinance that would restrict the farms to only industrial-zoned land, explained Johnson.

After a lot of resistance from Agawam residents, Eversource later pulled both of their applications for solar farms. Johnson said much of the public concern stems from the visual impacts of the solar facilities in residential areas.

“They’re worried about property values,” said Johnson. “The biggest impact is trying to mitigate the visible impact on properties—visual mitigation is the biggest hurtle in most situations.”

The Council was recently considering establishing overlay districts where solar arrays would be permitted outside of industrial-zoned areas.

Due to a time constraint and the complexity of creating these districts, the council is now moving toward allowing solar facilities in industrial areas and, by special permit, on agricultural zoned properties—which are the bulk of vacant parcels in Agawam.

“I think there’s going to be a shifting of gears. By creating special permit, that would allow the town to get the ordinance in the books quicker,” said Johnson. “It would also allow the town, by way of special permit, to study and safeguard any particular solar development.”

Johnson said the Council is hoping to have the final version of the ordinance through all of the procedural requirements by early April.

“Solar is a clean renewable energy source, so, that’s a positive as far as the town is concerned,” said the council president. “It adds to the tax base while potentially allowing property owners – especially if by permit in agriculturally-zoned areas – to have revenue come in for leasing space for solar farms, so they don’t have to face selling property and having it be developed versus keeping it open.”