Presque Isle city councilors Wednesday reviewed changes to the city’s land use ordinance that would require new commercial solar developments to be at least 1,200 feet from a paved road or residence and have four rows of trees to keep projects out of public view.
The city’s Planning Board recommended the amendments amid local complaints that large solar arrays are eyesores.
“We’ve heard a lot of complaints about buffering, and people being able to see [solar developments],” Tim St. Peter, the city’s deputy director of innovation and development, told councilors. “That was the intent, for people not to see them.”
Councilors agreed with the need for new projects to be pushed back and buffered from view, but challenged the 1,200-foot setback requirement as “excessive,” and sent the proposal back to the Planning Board for review.
“I agree with a lot of elements of this. I live across from an unbuffered solar field in a residential area,” Councilor Mike Chasse said. “But I think the 1,200-foot setback from a residence or road eliminates the majority of the land and adds so much cost that we won’t get any solar fields in town. And someday we’re going to be sad that we don’t have local generation if we do this.”
Statewide, the debate over solar has grown in recent years, as increased prevalence and larger developments have roiled residents concerned with how projects disrupt landscapes, disturb wildlife and cause noise pollution.
Presque Isle changed its land use and development code in 2024 to limit commercial solar to industrial zones, aircraft hazard zones and agricultural farming and forestry zones following concerns about an existing project in a suburban residential zone.
The city’s current code requires no specific setback between a solar project and a road or residence and mandates developments have just one row of trees around their perimeters.
Most existing developments in Presque Isle fall much closer to a road, including a three-megawatt project owned by Nordic Sun Energy at the corner of State Street and Skyway Street that is no more than 30 feet from either road.
Chasse suggested a setback of 100-200 feet. It’s not clear why the Planning Board chose 1,200 feet. No explanation is listed within the annotated draft of changes included in the meeting packet and St. Peter could not recall the board establishing a reason for why it chose the number.
“I think 200 feet from the road is quite a distance,” Chasse said. “If you want to be further away from homes that’s maybe another thing.”
Other towns in Maine have established setback requirements, though none appear to be as drastic as what came before the council Wednesday.
Earlier this summer, Skowhegan’s Planning Board moved forward changes to its solar ordinance that would require a setback of 400 feet from residences. In Levant, projects must be 150 feet from property lines. In Alna, the number is 100 feet, plus an additional 10 feet for every 100,000 square feet of array surface area. Damariscotta mandates a setback of 50 feet.
“That 1,200 feet seems like something that someone threw at the wall and it stuck the hardest,” Councilor Doug Cyr said.
“I understand the need for the trees and I think between the [trees and the setback] we could probably bring the [setback requirement] back a bit,” Councilor Tim Levesque said.
In addition to establishing the setback and larger buffer zone, the amendments would require access gates to the solar fields to be “orientated away from the primary view of the general public.”
The four-row buffer of evergreen and coniferous trees would have to surround the perimeter of the project with no openings larger than 10 feet except for access ways and gates. Under the proposed changes, the trees should reach at least to the height of panels within five years of being planted.
The proposal also opens the door for the use of non-toxic or organic pesticides and herbicides as a measure to help companies maintain a “healthy buffer.”
The council is expected to again consider the changes during its regular October meeting after a review by the Planning Board.
