Town Attorney Recommends Reorganization of Clean Energy Bylaw

Report of the Meeting of the Amherst Planning Board, July 15, 2026

This meeting was held via Zoom and was recorded.

Present
Doug Marshall (chair), Bruce Coldham, Fred Hartwell, Roy Johnson, Jesse Mager, Angus McLeod, and Jerah Smith
Staff: Walker Powell (planner) and Pam Field Sadler (assistant)
From the Community Resources Committee: Pam Rooney (chair), Mandi Jo Hanneke and Andy Churchill

Town Attorney Suggests Different Approach to Clean Energy Bylaw
Attorney Carolyn Murray of KP Law joined the continuation of the Planning Board’s public hearing on the proposed Clean Energy Bylaw. Three members of the Community Resources Committee (CRC) also attended, although the committee’s own public hearing is scheduled for July 23.

In reviewing the draft bylaw, which has been developed over several years and discussed at joint Planning Board and CRC meetings over the past few months, Murray said it was difficult to integrate the state’s new consolidated permit process — which takes effect in October — with the traditional local permitting process, which involves several town committees and boards. The consolidated permit requires that all relevant information be submitted with the application and that a decision be issued within 12 months. A chief administrative officer in each town is responsible for evaluating and ruling on applications; in Amherst, that would be the town manager or a designee.

Murray suggested the new bylaw address only the local process, under which an applicant presents a project to the relevant boards and departments and supplies information at a series of public hearings. The consolidated permitting process should still be mentioned in the bylaw, she said, but applicants interested in that route could simply be referred to the state application. Murray noted that the state application runs 20 pages, with a two-page checklist, so it is not necessarily faster than the traditional approach. Applicants can choose whether to follow the traditional route or apply for a consolidated permit.

Bruce Coldham asked whether the town had any recourse regarding proposed clean energy installations similar to the “safe harbor” provision for affordable housing, under which a town can deny a permit for a 40B affordable housing project if more than 10% of its units are already affordable. Murray said there is no comparable mechanism for clean energy projects that would protect a town from further applications once it reaches a certain number of solar installations or a large battery energy storage system. She added that under the Dover Amendment, “we’re now at a point where solar cannot be prohibited, and it cannot be unreasonably regulated so as to ultimately prohibit it, and some courts are starting to also tag along battery energy storage systems in that same vein.”

CRC member Andy Churchill and Planning Board Chair Doug Marshall said they were concerned that the length and complexity of the proposed bylaw would discourage, rather than encourage, solar energy development. The Planning Board voted on July 1 to recommend version 14 of the draft bylaw to the Town Council, with these and other reservations.

Jerah Smith said it was important to run the bylaw by “an actual solar developer” for feedback. Murray replied, “I would certainly never say no to that, because folks on the industry side can say that this needs to be tweaked a little bit, or maybe this is really something that becomes a deal breaker. The only caution I would have is remember who they are representing, and this is the town of Amherst’s bylaw. It is designed to protect your unique characteristics as a beautiful community. A little bit of healthy skepticism in that regard is always a good thing.”

Although Amherst is unlikely to see proposals for wind farms or anaerobic digesters, both covered under state regulations, Murray said new clean energy technologies could emerge in the future, and that Amherst should decide whether the new bylaw should apply only to solar installations and battery energy storage systems or to all clean energy projects.

The CRC will begin reorganizing the draft bylaw at its July 23 meeting, grouping all sections related to the consolidated permit process into one section. The Planning Board will review the changes at its Aug. 5 meeting. Murray told CRC and Planning Board members that the bylaw does not need to be completed by Oct. 1, but the town must be prepared to accept a consolidated permit application by that date.

Approval of Site Plan Review for Amity Street Five-Unit Affordable Homeownership Project Delayed Until July 29
At the July 1 Planning Board meeting, the Amherst Community Land Trust (ACLT) was asked to clarify the location of the new electrical transformer for the proposed five-unit affordable homeownership project at 174 Amity Street. The board also asked that the stepping-stone path from the Habitat for Humanity duplex on the property to the trash enclosure be made of a material more accessible for wheelchairs.

Felicity Hardee, attorney for the project, presented a revised site plan showing the transformer relocated to a spot midway between the three townhouses and the duplex, with the path now planned in bituminous material. She also raised the possibility of placing a smaller trash enclosure at the edge of the duplex’s parking area if a second pickup could be arranged with the trash hauler.

Planning Board members said they were satisfied with the revised plan but had questions about the findings and conditions drafted by Planner Walker Powell. They asked that the findings and conditions be revised and brought back for a vote at the next meeting. Because ACLT plans to close on the property on July 31, the Planning Board scheduled an additional meeting for July 29 to review the findings and conditions and issue the permit.

Marshall Re-elected as Planning Board Chair
With the start of the new fiscal year, the Planning Board elected new officers and representatives to other committees. By identical votes of 6-0-1, with the nominee abstaining in each case, the board elected Doug Marshall as chair, Jerah Smith as vice chair and Bruce Coldham as clerk.

Coldham will also continue as the board’s representative to the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission. Roy Johnson will represent the Planning Board on the Community Preservation Act Committee, and Marshall will serve as the representative to the Design Review Board, though he noted that the town manager did not acknowledge his appointment to that post during the previous year.