Blandford Planning Board Unanimously Backs Solar Moratorium for November Town Vote

BLANDFORD -- October 30, 2025, Blandford Planning Board votes unanimously to send large-scale solar moratorium to November 17 Special Town Meeting. The board approved the roll-call vote after a public hearing in which multiple residents, a Becket Conservation Commission chair, and a Becket Planning Board chair all spoke in support of the temporary pause. The proposed moratorium would ban new large-scale ground-mounted solar and battery energy storage system permits through May 31, 2026, covering approximately 90 percent of the town's land area, which is zoned agricultural. A board member cited an Eversource substation expansion within Blandford, associated with the Plainfield-Blandford study group, as the key driver of surging commercial solar interest, warning that the town's current bylaws were written when that infrastructure upgrade "was entirely unknown and not reasonably foreseeable." Town staff member Christine noted that legal counsel advised against a moratorium longer than roughly six months, as longer durations are more likely to be rejected during the mandatory 90-day Attorney General review. If voters approve the article on November 17, it takes effect immediately, and the town must draft updated solar zoning bylaws before the moratorium expires.