Hampden planning board holds public hearing on draft battery energy storage zoning bylaw

The Hampden Planning Board opened a public hearing April 16 on a proposed zoning bylaw to regulate battery energy storage systems (BESS), hearing resident concerns about water, fire risk and siting and receiving written comments from town counsel urging factual support for any limits.

The board is proposing a tiered approach that would allow small systems in residential settings and require special permits for larger, higher‑capacity systems. The draft sets technical requirements including a 30‑foot cleared zone around BESS enclosures, a 30‑foot vegetative buffer with specified planting heights and an operations and maintenance plan; the board voted to increase front setbacks to 75 feet and side/back setbacks to 100 feet in limited industrial areas and to add clearer maintenance and notice procedures before the bylaw is finalized.

Why it matters: the state has accelerated model language for BESS, and Massachusetts case law and the Dover Amendment (Mass. Gen. Laws c.40A §3) limit how far communities can restrict energy uses. Hampden officials said the town’s water resources and wetlands…