Solar Development Can Move Forward

Pierce Atwood represents Kearsarge Energy, a significant developer of solar energy, in connection with a proposed 17-acre, 5 MW ground mounted solar array in Walpole, Massachusetts. Our attorneys successfully argued that the town of Walpole’s zoning bylaws unlawfully prohibited large-scale solar facilities, paving the way for Kearsarge Energy to move forward with development of its solar facility.

While solar projects are largely exempt from zoning regulation in Massachusetts, many municipalities have enacted zoning bylaws that make construction of utility scale ground mounted arrays virtually impossible. After this project was denied by the Walpole Zoning Board of Appeals, the Massachusetts Land Court granted our motion for summary judgment, striking down the Walpole Zoning Bylaw regulation of solar facilities; subsequently the Massachusetts Appeals Court affirmed the Land Court.