Solar Regulation Supported by Former Bullard Plant Opposition

Concerned Holliston residents are hoping to raise support for a bylaw that would regulate large-scale solar farms in residential areas before town meeting on May 7. 

Organizers are aiming to avoid battles similar to the recent 5-month struggle at public hearings in front of the Planning Board that .

Using email lists, social media and relying on word of mouth, the former members of the group that opposed the Bullard Street project are now focusing their efforts on possible future solar proposals. 

"We would be able to regulate these projects and close the loophole that we face under Massachusetts General Law," Sandra O'Neil, a supporter of the bylaw said. 

Article 34, which was drafted and proposed by town officials, will allow for the regulation of solar farms in residential areas of Holliston that are implemented as commercial ventures. 

"We're kind of behind. A lot of other communities have passed these laws," O'Neil said. 

Current state laws make the denial of large solar projects possible only under a few, limited circumstances.

"We're trying to get as many people to the town meeting on May 7 as we possibly can," Thomas Gilbert, a supporter of the bylaw, said.