Haverhill City Councilors Vote 8-3 to Approve Lovers Lane Solar Farm With Conditions

Preliminary layout of proposed solar panels along Lovers Lane in Haverhill.

After a number of delays dating back to October, Haverhill city councilors Tuesday approved a special permit with conditions for a solar farm on Lovers Lane.

As WHAV reported first in October, December and earlier this month , the project proposed by SPI Solar is to be built on two woodland parcels on the northern side of Lovers Lane. The developer said the project, on what is currently 23 acres of green space near the New Hampshire border, will generate 6.8 megawatts of electricity.

Councilors expressed concern about the so-called state Dover Amendment, a law that exempts in some instances certain uses, including solar installations, from municipal zoning ordinances. The law requires exemptions be included only based on public health, safety and welfare and may not unreasonably burden a project, according to City Solicitor Jason R. Talerman.

“What it essentially does is it turns regular zoning a little bit around. Whereas in most zoning situations, the local zoning authority or presiding board would have all of the benefits of the doubt in their favor,” he said. “Under the Dover Amendment, the legislature has, over the years, added a number of uses that, I guess for lack of a better term, felt might not get a fair shake under existing zoning.”

Councilors still opted to impose several conditions on its special permit, including an emergency access plan, a guaranteed revenue stream for the city and requiring a secondary agricultural use to be paired with the array.

Councilor Melissa J. Lewandowski raised initial concerns over emergency access to the site.

“My concern, obviously is with access to the site, egress from the site, the fact that we have seen an extraordinary rise in wildfires and brush fires. That is not going to change, it’s just going to get worse,” she said. We need to have a definitive plan as to what the access road is going to be for the fire department.”

She also proposed a condition that the site also have an agrivoltaic plan, suggesting that the land could also be used for agricultural purposes.

Council Vice President Timothy J. Jordan suggested two conditions—the first of which mandates the applicant demonstrate how it the firm will decommission panels and replace trees later. Under the current plan, the solar panels are scheduled to be decommissioned and removed approximately 20 years after initial installation.

“It’s tough today to know what the cost is going to be to decommission them 20 years from now,” he said.

His other condition aims to guarantee a revenue stream within the permit. Under the proposal, the project will pay approximately $2.3 million in payments in lieu of taxes over 20 years. Jordan said he seeks to protect the city from future financial liabilities should SPI Solar’s local subsidiary be sold or go bankrupt.

Councilors voted unanimously in favor of the four proposed conditions but remained divided on whether to approve the permit. Councilor Shaun P. Toohey, was one who remained in opposition.

“For me, the scope is still too large,” he said. “I can’t see the benefit for $100,000 a year (in lieu of taxes) to ravaging over 2,500 trees.” He later added, “The scope for me, the tradeoff for me, while I live in a rural area, I’m on Crystal Street, preserving open space to me is critical.”

Councilor Devan M. Ferreira said she has “a lot of hesitations,” particularly with state mandated climate change and forest management programs which encourage communities to preserve trees.

“Just in June there was an imitative to help manage the state forest lands which also identified that this has an impact to public health in all of our areas in the state,” she said. “And that we need to better manage and maintain what we have and try not to lose more acreage.”

The permit was approved 8-3 with Lewandowski, Ferreira and Toohey casting the dissenting votes.

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