A plan to rezone a parcel of land behind Autumn Glen at Dartmouth to house a solar array could be brought before Town Meeting voters in June.

Planning Board members heard plans Monday for a citizen’s petition to change the zoning from residential to business on a wooded lot behind the assisted living facility. The land in question abuts a zoned business district and is owned by John Cabral.

If the zoning change is made, this parcel would then house a large-mount solar array, according to Joseph Hamel, senior project manager for NextEra Energy Resources, which would develop the solar project.

Hamel said he has received signatures from more than 25 registered voters in the area who supported the zoning change.

“There hasn’t been a lot of warm reception’’ to solar arrays in residential areas, board member John Sousa said. “I think this is going to be a tough road.’’

A previous citizen’s petition article on solar was withdrawn from the 2018 Fall Town Meeting warrant after the proposal faced confusion and criticism from the Planning Board in the months leading up to the meeting. 

More recently, a solar array for Flag Swamp Road proposed by the same company behind the 2018 citizen’s petition met with opposition from residents at a public hearing on March 2.

Sousa said he wants as much information as possible before making a recommendation to voters.

Adding a permanent deed restriction to prevent the parcel from being subdivided would be a positive move that might help him consider the proposal more favorably, Sousa said.

Board chair Lorri-Ann Miller reminded the board that the issue was whether to change the zoning on the land and not about the specific use. “This is not about solar farms,’’ she said. “This is strictly, do we want to change this from residential to business?’’

Board member Margaret Sweet suggested reaching out to Autumn Glen representatives for their reaction. “That’s really a beautiful site,’’ she said of the Autumn Glen location.

She expressed concern that if plans to build a solar array at the site don’t come to fruition, “you have a large piece of land that’s zoned for business in a residential area.’’

Sousa expressed a similar sentiment. “If this passes, you can put anything there,’’ he said.

Board members will make their recommendation on the petition at an April 6 public hearing.

Also at the meeting, Planning Board members approved a site plan for Dunkin’ Donuts on 479 Faunce Corner Road after the developers added sidewalks and greenery, as board members had previously requested.

They had sought the changes in part to restrict the possibility of a drive-thru.

The developer had been granted a variance to the town’s zoning bylaws that prevent drive-thrus on Faunce Corner Road. Although an abutter had filed an appeal to the variance, that appeal was later withdrawn.

According to the site plan approved Monday, the drive-thru is not on the cards.

The Planning Board also agreed to write a letter to the Department of Public Utilities in opposition to a proposed solar array on cranberry bogs on Flag Swamp Road.

NextSun Energy LLC is seeking zoning exemptions to construct a ground solar array and energy storage facility at the 44-acre site, located on cranberry bog land, as part of a state program encouraging solar farming and other activities on active farmland to bolster the agricultural industry.

At a public hearing March 2, residents in attendance said the project would harm the rural character of the neighborhood and questioned whether the bogs were even viable.

Planning Board members said the project does not merit an exemption to the bylaw that prohibits large-scale solar installations in residential areas. 

“I’m going to go by the will of the people,’ ‘Sousa said. “They don’t want them located in residential areas.’’

Committee member Stephen Taylor agreed with the letter, but said he hopes there are opportunities to use “solar in a positive way’’ to help farmers maintain their land for agricultural use. He said the town needs to “get away from this pressure to develop at all costs.’’