Portsmouth Planning Board approves West Main Solar subdivision with condition to add 45–50 trees and retain no‑cut buffer until planting is complete

The Town of Portsmouth Planning Board on Nov. 13 approved a modification and subdivision for the West Main Solar 1 property at 1348 West Main Road, conditioned on new landscaping and protections for an existing no‑cut buffer.

The board voted to allow the subdivision and to move the westerly planted buffer 40 feet east provided the applicant installs an additional 45 to 50 evergreen trees (proposed green giant arborvitae or agreed alternatives) to fill sight‑line gaps, and preserves the current no‑cut buffer until those plantings are installed. The board also authorized the town planner, as administrative officer, to approve selective cutting necessary for surveying and construction staging. The motion set an expectation that the plantings be completed by May 2026.

Applicant attorney Peter Regan told the board his clients will remain owners of the land hosting the solar field and called the proposed infill plantings an enforceable condition. "We put a plan together to fill in some of those gaps ... to plant between 45 and 50 additional trees," Regan said, adding the trees would be 7 to 8 feet at planting unless abutters prefer different varieties.

Kevin Alverson, the project landscape architect, described specific problem locations and proposed mitigations including selective infill and modest berming to raise new plantings: "In those areas where it was very obvious as far as gaps ... we're looking to infill in those areas." Alverson said the trees planted earlier are growing at about 3 feet per year but that staggered plantings leave temporary alleyways that additional shrubs or specimens can plug.

An engineering noise analysis by Neil Hingorani of Narragansett Engineering addressed a neighbor concern that removing trees along West Main might increase traffic noise. Hingorani summarized a basic attenuation estimate, saying the distance to the nearest houses in the back is approximately 1,200 feet and that "sound attenuates with distance," adding that in his simplified model traffic noise at that separation would reduce to roughly a light‑speaking voice.

Neighbors who spoke at the hearing expressed thanks for applicant outreach. Lark Roderick of 73 West Passage Drive said the meeting with neighbors produced a plan that has made many neighbors "pretty happy." Prospective buyer William Harvey said he has a loan in progress and is not yet certain what he will build; he and another participant, Oliver Pashawn, pressed the board and applicants to balance planting timelines against the buyer's need to close and prepare development plans.

To reconcile those concerns, the board's motion included language that preserves the no‑cut buffer until plantings are installed and allows the town planner to permit limited clearing necessary for surveying or other minimal preparatory work. The motion was seconded and approved unanimously by voice vote.

The approval is specific to the subdivision and the landscaping condition; any subsequent development of the front lot will return to the planning board for development plan review.

The matter concluded with the board directing staff to record the condition and the planting plan and to inspect planting locations when installed.