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Planning board clears most waivers, sets May 14 public hearing for Black Island Medical Center solar array
Summary
The board approved waiver requests for a ground‑mounted solar array at Black Island Medical Center, denied waivers for emergency access, erosion controls and landscaping details, and scheduled a public hearing for May 14.
NEW SHOREHAM — The New Shoreham Planning Board reviewed an application from Black Island Health Services to install a ground‑mounted solar energy array at the Black Island Medical Center campus and approved most waiver requests while reserving several technical requirements for the public‑hearing submittal.
Ray Dorey, co‑chair of the medical center building committee, told the board a donor would fund the ground array and that site engineers expect the array to produce roughly 90,000 kilowatt‑hours a year and to offset an estimated 80–90% of the campus’s electrical use; preliminary estimates in the meeting suggested annual electricity cost savings on the order of tens of thousands of dollars. The proposal supplements an existing roof array (26 panels) with a new ground array arranged in four rows and limited to about 9 feet in height.
The board voted to approve the applicant’s waiver requests except for three items the board declined to waive: information on emergency‑access provisions; an erosion‑control plan tied to the revised stone‑trench proposal; and the landscaping plan requested to address visual impacts. Planning staff required the applicant to submit updated site plans that show separate infiltration trenches for each row of panels, per the engineering consultant’s recent recommendation, and a landscaping plan that will not unduly shade the panels. The board also asked the applicant to provide a larger plan graphic and a visual model for the May public hearing to help neighbors visualize the array’s scale.
After completing the waiver votes the board set a public hearing for Wednesday, May 14, and instructed the applicant to provide the updated site plans, erosion controls, and a landscaping plan before the hearing. The board indicated it expects Cirenzia and Associates (engineering) to attend the hearing to explain drainage and stormwater controls.
Next steps: Applicant to submit revised site plans and engineering documentation; planning board to hold a public hearing on May 14.
