Planning Board approves 5-megawatt White Oaks Road community solar project

The Laconia Planning Board on Feb. 4 voted to approve application PB2025‑014 for a 5-megawatt alternating‑current (AC) photovoltaic community solar energy system on White Oaks Road after discussing site layout, clearing, access and utility interconnection.

The project will develop roughly 21 acres of a larger roughly 111‑acre parcel and place two separate arrays in upland areas divided by wetlands and a transmission right‑of‑way. Kevin Corbett, representing the applicant, described the system as a “fixed tilt system” and said the design includes an access drive off White Oaks Road, equipment pads and a 7‑foot security fence around each array. Corbett said the project team has held preliminary meetings with the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services wetlands staff and the Department of Transportation and had met with the city’s Technical Review Committee and Conservation Commission.

Board members pressed for details on lighting, fence type, clearing amounts and the point of utility interconnection. Corbett said there will be no continuous night lighting for the array, only possible motion‑sensor lighting at equipment pads if needed, and that fences would likely be chain‑link or similar agricultural mesh. He said the applicant estimates about 24.71 acres of clearing and 10.88 acres of trimming (about 36 acres total when combined with the 21 acres of array footprint) and that the panels will be set back roughly “just over 300 feet” from White Oaks Road.

The utility connection remains unresolved. Corbett told the board he had spoken with Eversource and that the utility had suggested an alternate tap on Fillmore Road but the project team pushed back because heavy wetlands make that route infeasible; he said Eversource would follow up. Planning Director Rob Mora told the board that any change to the planned point of interconnection would require the applicant to return to the Planning Board for an amendment, not a staff administrative approval.

Staff recommended conditions of approval that the board adopted, including: revised final plans; erosion controls and inspection prior to site work; a pavement/road repair escrow or a road agreement to the satisfaction of the Department of Public Works; a performance guarantee for site improvements and landscape security (staff recommended a guarantee equal to 11 percent of estimated costs for site work and for landscaping, or a specified minimum); required permits from state and federal agencies before final plan recording; required Knox boxes for gates and compliance with Fire Department access specifications; and third‑party stormwater pollution prevention inspections approved by DPW. The approval includes a project completion deadline of Feb. 4, 2030, after which the conditional approval would lapse unless an extension is filed.

Board members also added a condition addressing operational noise: the applicant agreed to mitigate any verified noise problem and to fund third‑party decibel testing if complaints required it. Corbett said in public remarks that inverters produce a low hum during daylight hours and that at typical setback distances the sound would be around 37–38 decibels (comparable to library noise levels) and that barriers could be added near equipment if necessary.

The resolution of certain items remains procedural: Corbett said the applicant has had preliminary conversations with DES wetlands and with NHDOT/AOT but had not yet filed all state permit applications; staff required copies of permits before final plan signing and recording. The board recorded that the Zoning Board of Adjustment previously granted a special exception for power generation at the parcel on Sept. 16, 2024, and the Technical Review Committee reviewed the plan on Sept. 17, 2024; the Conservation Commission reviewed the project on Sept. 18, 2024 and reported no concerns.

The board moved and approved the application with the staff conditions and the added noise‑mitigation language. The vote was recorded as unanimous.

Planning Director Mora told the board that if Eversource later requires a different point of interconnection the applicant must return to the Planning Board for an amendment.