Planning board approves solar farm on White Oaks Road

LACONIA — The city’s planning board stamped its approval for an application to develop a large solar farm in the Weirs, and heard a presentation for a townhouse development at their meeting Tuesday night.

Speaking on behalf of the project, Vice President of Construction Kevin Corbett of Rewild Renewables told members of the planning board they intend to construct a 5 megawatt solar power system over 21 acres of a 111-acre parcel on White Oaks Road.

The two arrays, separated by the topography on the parcel, will be enclosed by 7-foot-tall chainlink or agricultural fences with a 6-inch gap at the bottom to allow animals to move unencumbered. The approximate distance from the solar arrays to the edge of White Oaks is planned at just over 300 feet.

“Just over a football field,” board Chair Charlie St. Clair, who also serves Laconia as a Democrat in the Statehouse, said.

There won’t be lighting at the site of the solar array and Corbett said, because of distance, tree and foliage coverage, the arrays won’t be visible at the road. They will, however, emit sound during the daytime while they’re operating, about 38 decibels — similar to the amount of sound generated by a library, he said.

“The inverters generate a low hum during the day,” Corbett said, noting neighbors wouldn’t hear it because of distance and trees. “It’s very low.”

The company will install locked gates at the entrance to a gravel road on the property, and on the fences which are to surround the arrays themselves. Local police and firefighters will have access to those gates through lock boxes, which will contain keys to permit authorized access.

In total, about 36 out of 111 acres will be impacted by the development. Just over 24 acres will be cleared, and about 10 will be “trimmed”.

“We don’t have to corrupt the area, basically,” Corbett said.

When developers appeared before the Zoning Board of Adjustment on Sept. 16, 2024, residents of White Oaks came out in force to speak against the project. They worried the construction of solar arrays would lower property values and quality of life for abutters, endanger wildlife and encourage people experiencing homelessness to loiter there. But on Tuesday night, none of them spoke either for or against the project’s approval during a period open to public comment.

The planning board approved the application unanimously.

Planning board members later heard a conceptual presentation for a townhouse development, also located on White Oaks.

Jeffrey Merritt of Granite Engineering, speaking on behalf of that project, said they intend to construct 14 townhouse-style units with frontage along State Route 11B and White Oaks.

“Two different sections of frontage, one is accessible,” Merritt said. “The other, the state route, is really not accessible — it’s the path of most resistance."

The land, mostly undeveloped other than simple shed-like structures, is sloped south to north, and the residences would be constructed “into the grade”, and could tentatively be as tall as 35 feet.

“With the pitch of the roofs, you could be all of 35" feet tall, Merritt said.

St. Clair said he hopes the units would not exceed 35 feet in height.

“I’d hate to see them taller,” he said.

The applicant, Marquis Contracting Group of Merrimack on behalf of property owners Normand Properties of Laconia, are seeking to build 14, 735-square-foot units on a 1.78-acre parcel. At present, the property is a mostly undeveloped field, often used as a paid parking lot during Laconia Motorcycle Week.

“The townhouses really work well on this property,” Merritt said. “The property slopes from the south to the north — south is high, north is low — so the way these would work is they would kind of step themselves down the hill. The southern units would be kind of tucked into the grade, whereas the northern units would drop down, if you will, and walk out on the lower level. The townhouses work well with the topography on the site.”

Developers would construct four unique structures containing 14 units of housing in total on the property. They’d also build and pave a driveway, construct landscaping, visitor parking and bury utilities. There would be a “rain garden” for stormwater on the north side of the parcel.

Melissa Marquis, of Marquis Contracting Group, said she’s looking to begin work on the development later this year.

“We’re hoping for late fall. Obviously it all depends on getting all the proper planning together and getting everything in front of you,” she said. “That certainly is our hope.”