By Jack Jemsek
How can Amherst promote the development of solar energy while also protecting our farmland, forests and drinking water?
To answer this question, a group of residents met for the past two years as members of the Solar Bylaw Working Group. They have come up with a draft of a bylaw that was sent to the Town Council for review in November. The draft is expected to be the subject of public hearings this summer.
The origin of this work goes back to three years ago when Amherst developed a Climate Action Adaptation and Resilience Plan. One goal described in that plan was to encourage solar development. After a proposed temporary moratorium on solar projects was rejected by the Town Council in 2022, seven residents were asked to work on a bylaw to clarify the approval process.
The working group had to consider several things as they developed the draft solar bylaw, including what spaces in town could potentially be sites for solar development as well as legal decisions in other parts of the state that have potential impact on a municipal bylaw for Amherst. (You can find a detailed description of the working group’s charge and process, here.)
A town-wide solar assessment (TSA) was also conducted to determine potential feasible solar sites. It concluded that about 6,911 acres (almost 40 percent of land in Amherst) is considered feasible for solar. These areas were then ranked based on slope, southern facing, distance to transmission lines and transmission line capacity. The land was also ranked by its current use: rooftops, parking lots, farmland, forests, undeveloped portions of residential properties and municipally owned areas. (The TSA study excluded the following land: 1) UMass-Amherst, Amherst College and Hampshire College and other educational zoned land, 2) protected conservation areas and wetlands, and 3) roads, railroads or rights of way.)
They also reviewed a court case where local rules restricted a solar project in Massachusetts. The court ruled that “no zoning ordinance or bylaw shall prohibit or unreasonably regulate the installation of solar energy systems or the building of structures that facilitate the collection of solar energy, except where necessary to protect public health.” Gov. Maura Healey recently recommended that a new comprehensive permitting framework be developed to expedite the siting and approval of clean energy projects.
The Draft Bylaw
The 32-page draft bylaw cites a need to reduce the carbon footprint within the town in an environmentally responsible manner. You can read it here.
It emphasizes “the need to preserve the natural environment, protect sources of carbon sequestration and storage, and minimize impacts on scenic, natural and cultural resources and on residential neighborhoods.”
The draft bylaw also acknowledges “the need to protect all natural resources in town, including forest resources that support the local economy, produce wood products, provide the critical ecosystem services of purifying and storing water, purifying air, producing oxygen, sequestering carbon, habitat for wildlife and plants, recreation, lower air temperature and mitigating climate change.”
It stipulates that solar installations must be at least 400 feet from sources of public drinking water and at least 100 feet from private wells. It requires a stormwater plan with construction monitoring, and bans the use of synthetic pesticides or herbicides, among other water protection measures.
The bylaw limits solar development of qualified farmland in Amherst by requiring agrivoltaics. It would mandate soil preservation and analysis and establish standards of mounting and foundations, plus conservation measures.
It recognizes the value of forests for environmental diversity and carbon sequestration. “There shall be no forest clearing on land designated as Core Habitat and Critical natural Landscapes…or on land designated as Priority Habitat or Estimated Habitat as defined by the state’s Endangered Species Act,” it states.
What’s next?
The Town Council has referred the draft solar bylaw to its Community Resources Committee for review. Once that committee has finalized the draft bylaw, it will be available for review and public hearings by the Planning Board and CRC, likely sometime this summer. The Amherst Current will publish a follow-up article further exploring the balance between land use preferences and the siting and permitting of solar projects that are needed to meet the town’s and the state’s climate action goals.
Find more information and links to resources related to the solar bylaw development on this resources page.
Jack Jemsek is a consulting hydrogeologist and he and his family have been Amherst residents since 1999. He has served on the Water Supply Protection Committee since 2018, the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission Executive Committee since 2020, the Planning Board from 2016 through 2022, and several other local committees.
THE AMHERST CURRENT 
Helpful information. Thank you.
Can you show us a map of where large scale solar can be built following the draft bylaw’s parameters? Or at lease describe what you think that would look like?
Taking the blue map, and pulling out everywhere you can’t have sunlight or build solar on 20 contiguous acres, overlayed with the state’s bio layer, may be a good start.
Under your new draft bylaw, considering the realities of existing buildings and improvements and the cost in time and dollars of siting solar piece by piece among hundreds of homeowners, where would the volume of solar we need actually and affordably(time and money wise) be able to go ?
Thanks to you and all members of the working group for all your time and efforts writing this bylaw. It’s so appreciated.
Cinda Jones
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Hi Cinda – there are so many site-specific factors regarding the feasibility of a particular parcel or contiguous parcels for a solar development, that the Town elected to have the user treat the GIS map as a screening tool. The parcel size alone can be a limiting factor. Note that the GIS map is not based on parcel geometry, but instead on 30 ft by 30 ft grids throughout the non-excluded areas.
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The old screening map doesn’t work anymore and we can’t understand the impact of the bylaw we’re being asked to pass because the blue map doesn’t consider the new bylaw conditions that are proposed to be followed to develop solar.
We can fix this easily by dropping map layers for the proposed bylaw conditions onto the blue map you started with.
Only then will we graphically see if and where solar is allowed if this bylaw passes.
Thanks again for all you all do
Cinda Jones
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good ask Cinda and it should be simple to do, and yield valuable information for the public.
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What a terrific and informative piece. Thank you Jack.
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Thank you Matt – we have some great editors here at Amherst Current, i.e., Allison McDonald 🙂
FYI Cinda –
https://amherstma.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/interactivelegend/index.html?appid=e680d40192ec482b8f0ff11bb38d5cbc
This is the link to the Amherst Solar Feasibility Data on Amherst GIS site . . . you can zoom in and get additional detail on an area you are interested in.
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Thank you Jack for providing the overlay, which is very helpful in its detail.
If private residential property is deemed feasible or eligible for development of solar power, does this mean the owner is permitted to develop solar power for private purpose, or permitted to develop solar power for commercial purpose, or that the state is permitted to develop solar power on the property for state or commercial purpose? The 32-p. bylaw document does not address this.
Tom Porter
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The draft bylaw is applicable to larger ground-mounted solar arrays that would cover >0.5 acre associated with >250 kw systems. All ground-mounted systems, regardless of size, will still require a Special Permit from the ZBA or Planning Board, as is currently the case. As such, the bylaw is geared toward providing standards for new Large-Scale Ground-Mounted Photovoltaic Installations (LGPI) projects, i.e., ground solar arrays >250 kw. Rooftop solar will still only require a Building Permit from the Town.
Hope that answers your question Tom and thank you!
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A few questions come to mind.
Why were the campuses excluded? They have acres of parking lots and roof tops. Installing solar over these areas has begun at UMass, and Amherst College could certainly do the same. It makes sense both environmentally and economically.
Why does Amherst not require new construction to incorporate solar on roofs and parking areas? California mandated solar roofing a few years ago and now has more solar capacity than it knows how to handle.
Why can’t those wishing to turn a profit by building out solar do so in partnership with commercial real estate concerns in the area instead of clear-cutting forested land? Covering the parking areas and roofs of the big box stores in Amherst and Hadley. It could make the rich richer without impoverishing the community by trashing farm fields and forests.
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Hello John – my responses to your questions are below:
Why were the campuses excluded? They have acres of parking lots and roof tops. Installing solar over these areas has begun at UMass, and Amherst College could certainly do the same. It makes sense both environmentally and economically.
The campuses are zoned ED Educational and are not subject to review by the Town, per the Zoning Bylaw. As such, the proposed Solar Bylaw does not apply to ED-zoned land. It is important to note that each of the three colleges in town has excelled in their pursuit of achieving carbon neutrality through their individual climate action and sustainability plans . . . Hampshire College has achieved carbon neutrality and Amherst and UMass are on track to do so by 2030 . . . so the colleges certainly are doing their part with regard toward climate action.
Why does Amherst not require new construction to incorporate solar on roofs and parking areas? California mandated solar roofing a few years ago and now has more solar capacity than it knows how to handle.
That proposal would involve a separate amendment to the Zoning Bylaw. The proposed Solar Bylaw specifically addresses Large-Scale Ground-Mounted Photovoltaic Installations (LGPIs).
Why can’t those wishing to turn a profit by building out solar do so in partnership with commercial real estate concerns in the area instead of clear-cutting forested land? Covering the parking areas and roofs of the big box stores in Amherst and Hadley. It could make the rich richer without impoverishing the community by trashing farm fields and forests.
The host landowners, the developer and the end-user (i.e., the community) all benefit by local solar. Commercial real estate is limited and if solar is limited to only those areas, the state would certainly fail to reach the renewable goals stated within the Massachusetts 2050 Decarbonization Roadmap, wherein 20 GW of additional solar is targeted, equivalent to ~40,000 acres of solar. The Town’s 2021 Climate Action Adaptation and Resilience Plan is committed toward sustainability. Additionally, legal precedent allows reasonable solar development toward this goal. Interestingly, if one were to look at the percentage that Amherst should contribute based on land area within the state, then more than 100 acres of solar should be developed, if feasible. Similarly, based on population, more than 200 acres of additional solar in Amherst would be appropriate using the same “fair share” approach to decarbonization.
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Thanks for this very informative article and the responses you have provided. Following on your point about Amherst’s fair share of solar acreage, and being curious about the number of grid-tied residential PV systems needed to reach the goal of 200 acres of solar, I did some simple calculations. The residential PV systems that we commonly see on the roofs of our neighbors are typically from 5 to 15 kW. Using your ratio of 20 GW requiring 40,000 acres, I arrive at 10,000 of these roof type systems, at 10 kW each, needed in Amherst to meet the goal of 200 acres of solar PV. This must be way beyond the roofs in Amherst (commercial or residential) that have the right orientation and limited shade to take PV. I am grateful to the bylaw working group for providing the guidance that will be needed for evaluating the large scale PV systems that will be coming our way.
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[…] discuss the proposed draft solar bylaw as well as the nuisance bylaw. A working group of residents developed a draft bylaw to guide solar energy development in Amherst and presented it to the Town Council last November. […]
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Thank you for updating us with the progress. I also learned a lot from readers’ questions and your answers. It may be worth mentioning in the bylaw that the Mass general law provides for the town to be reimbursed by the solar developer for hiring external experts if need be:
The Special Permit Granting Authority may hire, at the expense of the applicant, consultants to review the plans submitted if it determines that independent expert review is appropriate for the interest of the neighborhood and/or the town.
Shalini Bahl-Milne
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I’m familiar with this approach from working on a Trust for Public Land “Greenprint” and the map alone should prove helpful. I haven’t read the bylaw yet and 32 pages seems a bit much but we’ll see. Like it or not, larger ground mounted solar arrays will be necessary to meet energy goals.
Thanks for your interest, expertise and enthusiasm!
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