Dighton Planning Board weighs a pause on new solar farms and battery storage through June 2028

DIGHTON New large solar farms and battery storage sites would be on hold in Dighton through June 2028 under a draft zoning article the Planning Board reviews Wednesday, Nov. 4, as it lines up proposals for the annual town meeting. The pause would cover large ground-mounted solar arrays and energy storage installations, while roof-mounted panels and small ground-mounted systems could still go in.

The board meets at 7 p.m. in the lower level of Town Hall, 979 Somerset Ave., with a Zoom option, and the meeting is recorded for cable broadcast. The moratorium and a rewrite of the town's conservation subdivision bylaw come up under one agenda item, "Review Potential Articles to be Presented at the Annual Town Meeting." Any zoning change still needs a town meeting vote.

What the moratorium would do

The draft would add a new Section 4605 to Dighton's zoning bylaws, a temporary moratorium on using land or structures for large-scale ground-mounted solar electric installations and energy storage installations, commonly called battery energy storage systems or BESS. It would not apply to accessory roof-mounted solar or to small-scale ground-mounted solar, which the bylaws handle in separate sections. The moratorium would be in effect through June 2028.

During that time, the draft says, the town would study what changes to its solar and energy storage rules, Section 4600 of the bylaws, are "needed or desirable to allow for and regulate such use consistent with applicable law while protecting the Town's ecological resources and furthering its planning goals."

Why the town says it needs time

Dighton has nine approved large-scale solar installations, the first started as early as 2015, according to the draft's background section. Six are fully running and three are still under construction. Two of the nine share their sites with battery storage. Under the current bylaws, large and small solar installations are allowed in the Residential Zoning District through site plan review and a special permit.

The draft also says the town faces a Dec. 1, 2026, deadline to adopt solar and battery storage bylaws consistent with the state's regulations and guidelines, which it lists as the state's model bylaws, its site suitability guidelines, baseline health and safety standards, and pre-filing requirements. The draft says Dighton "needs both time and outside expertise" to meet the state's rules, and that a moratorium "will allow sufficient time to amend the Zoning Bylaws to conform to newly proposed legal requirements."

The agenda lists the moratorium under "Review Potential Articles to be Presented at the Annual Town Meeting" and gives no date for that meeting. The draft's background refers to a vote at the annual town meeting in June 2026, a date that has passed.

Separately, on Sept. 23 the Board of Selectmen voted 2-0 to accept consolidated local permitting and named Town Administrator Ralph Vitacco the town's local government representative for it, according to the minutes presented for approval Oct. 28. Vitacco told the board the town was looking to comply with the state requirement. Selectmen Peter Caron, acting as chair, and Glen Cabbage voted; Chairman Mark Pacheco was absent.

At the Planning Board's Sept. 16 meeting, member Leonard Hull Jr., giving the Stormwater Committee's update, noted that solar developments are among the leading sources of tax revenue for the town, the minutes say.

The conservation subdivision rewrite

Both drafts in the packet are marked "4/13/2026 Proposed Amendment." The second would amend Section 4300, the bylaw that lets a developer cluster homes on part of a property and permanently protect the rest as open space. It covers five or more lots in the Residential Zoning District, by a Planning Board special permit, and could also apply to multifamily projects. Its main limits:

• No more than 40 homes in a conservation subdivision, or 60 when at least 20% of the units are set aside for affordable or senior housing.
• At least 20% of the parcel kept as permanently protected, connected open space, with at least 25% of that land designed for recreation such as trails or playgrounds unless the board waives it.
• Lots of at least 7,500 square feet with at least 50 feet of frontage and yards of at least 15 feet.
• A 100-foot buffer between wetlands and any home, road, driveway, septic system or stormwater system, unless the Conservation Commission allows it under the Wetlands Protection Act. A special permit cannot reduce the buffer.
• A density bonus of up to 20% for features such as extra open space, farming, public recreation, affordable or senior units, or public infrastructure upgrades, still inside the 40 and 60 home caps.

The base number of homes would be set by what a conventional subdivision could fit on the same land, after subtracting wetlands, floodplains, ponds and vernal pools, land under easements that bar building, public water supply protection zones, half of any land with slopes of 20% or more, and 10% of the rest for roads.

Also on the agenda

The board will also act on a Form A plan application from Richard Costa and Amy Saxon for 1290 Pine St. and 1211 Center St. Before the open meeting, it has a closed session at 6:30 p.m. at Old Town Hall, 1111 Somerset Ave., to discuss litigation strategy in Forest Hill Estates v. Town of Dighton.

Jeffrey Carvalho chairs the board. Its other members are Vice Chairman Daniel Higgins, Clerk Christopher Cunha, Joseph Figueiredo and Leonard Hull Jr.

How to weigh in

Public input comes near the end of the agenda. Residents can attend in person or join on Zoom through the link on the posted agenda, and Planning Board meetings air on Comcast Local TV9 and the Town of Dighton Planning and Land Use YouTube channel. The Planning Board office is reached through Office Manager Kerrie Easterday at 508-669-6431, ext. 114, or keasterday@dighton-ma.gov. The board's next meeting is Wednesday, Nov. 18.

Dighton voters also meet Monday, Nov. 9, for a special town meeting on a separate warrant. Our story on that warrant covers its articles.

Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.