The Zoning Board of Appeals last week was faced with making a decision on a land use that is, at best, only murkily addressed in the town’s zoning bylaws.
Building commissioner Gabriel Vellante had denied a building permit to the investors in the Harvard Community Solar Garden in March, writing in his denial that the installation “must be considered a commercial business operation.” Vellante did not attend the Zoning Board’s hearing on the solar garden’s appeal of his decision and was therefore not available to explain his reasoning. We wish he had been.
The voting members of the Zoning Board were not able to come to a definitive decision last week, and so they postponed the vote until June 13. Given that the case centers on issues that are not necessarily clearly defined in the zoning, such as the definition of “commercial” and whether an off-site solar array can be considered an accessory use, Vellante’s input would have been useful.
Whatever the Zoning Board decides at its next meeting, it’s clear the town can’t wait much longer to add a comprehensive section on solar energy systems to its zoning law. It would be a shame for well-meaning projects like the solar garden, which has the potential to benefit the entire community, to fail for lack of clear zoning language. We encourage the Planning Board to move speedily to create such a bylaw and get it before Town Meeting.
