Durham finds Pinkham Brook solar application substantially complete, schedules site walk and public hearing

The Durham Planning Board on July 1 voted to find the Pinkham Brook GLC Solar LLC conditional-use application for a proposed 600-kilowatt AC ground-mounted solar facility substantially complete for the purpose of beginning a full review, provided the applicant supplies supplemental materials identified by staff. The board set a site walk for July 20 at 6:30 p.m. and tabled further findings pending that site visit and a public hearing at the board’s August meeting.

Representatives for the applicant — Jesse Hutchinson of FlightCatcher (land-use agent), Jeff Martin and Rachel Shequin of Norwich Technologies — described the project as sited at 360 Pinkham Brook Road on roughly 11.1 acres of a larger 94-acre parcel. The proposed layout includes a gated access drive, a span bridge crossing to avoid in-stream work, an equipment pad for transformers and inverters, and underground and overhead lines to a CMP interconnection point on Pinkham Brook Road. Martin said the project is designed for remote operation with traffic largely limited to construction and occasional maintenance visits.

The board’s completeness finding was conditional: staff asked for permit status documentation (including the Maine DEP construction/stormwater general-permit materials), finalized emergency-response and fire-department materials, floodplain and bridge-crossing documentation, a wetland/stream-impact summary, a financial-capacity letter or cost estimate, decommissioning information and final plan revisions. Chair (speaker 2) and board members emphasized that the application’s completeness is contingent on those submissions and that the public hearing will provide the forum for final findings and a vote.

Fire Chief (speaker 7) told the board he had reviewed emergency access with the applicant and had “complete discussions” on entrance access, turnaround areas, Knox box access, emergency shutoffs and signage. He also said the applicant had offered resources to the fire department: “they’ve been more than willing to provide, just today, I think you got a copy, upwards of possibly $10,000 to the town and the fire department to invest in our equipment to protect their infrastructure and investment,” the chief said. The board indicated that documentation of emergency access and any equipment donations should be included in the supplemental materials.

Board members also questioned environmental and technical details: the applicants said they had conducted wetland delineations for the study area and would provide clearer plan overlays (aerials with setback and floodplain layers), demonstrate compliance with the town’s floodplain and shoreline setbacks where applicable, and pursue required permits, including a DOT entrance permit and coordination with the Army Corps of Engineers for the crossing. Applicants said they had provided an interconnection agreement to CMP and planned to secure any easements required by the utility.

On operations and mitigation, Norwich said the array would require minimal grading, topsoil would remain on-site within the limit of disturbance, mowing would occur roughly twice a year, and the site would be monitored remotely. The applicant said a decommissioning plan is in the site-plan submittal; the planning board noted a decommissioning bond will be required before issuance of a building permit. Fence details discussed included an approximately 8-foot wildlife fence with 6-inch openings per inland-fisheries guidance; the board requested the fencing specification and transformer noise data be included in the final materials.

The board will hold a site walk July 20 at 6:30 p.m.; staff will prepare a summary of the site walk and the board will hold a public hearing at its next regular meeting before taking any final vote on findings or approval.