On March 28, 2022, the Barnstable, MA Planning Board rejected a citizens’ request with grassroots support to place an 11-month temporary moratorium on large-scale, ground-mounted solar arrays.
This request was the result of a citizens’ petition to stop a destructive industrial solar project on conserved land.
Abutters to the project, maintain that allowing the solar array would constitute spot zoning. They are particularly concerned that allowing battery storage in their neighborhood would pose a public safety threat to ground water from potential toxic chemical coolant leaks.
A temporary pause on industrial ground-mounted solar projects in Barnstable would have given the town time to develop comprehensive bylaws and zoning rules to prevent large-scale solar projects from destroying valuable ecosystems and threatening residential communities.