The Planning Board voted against supporting a proposed Town Meeting article that would see a solar array come to Cross Road due to concerns with re-zoning the lot in question.

In a virtual meeting on April 13, board members went back and forth on the citizens petition article, which aims to change the zoning for a 38-acre lot behind the Autumn Glen assisted living facility from a residential to a business use.

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 26 neighbors who supported the zoning change.

Property owner Holly Cabral stated at the meeting that the parcel of land is currently undeveloped and hidden from Cross Road and other streets in the area. “You can’t see it at all,” she said.

An easement on a neighboring property allows access to the site.

Despite support from board members for the solar project, they ultimately voted against recommending the plan in a 4-1 vote.

Board member John Sousa, who voted against the plan, worried that re-zoning the lot would leave it open to any business use if the solar plans were to fall through.

He noted that the zoning change would make the lot more valuable, and that in a worst-case scenario, a “big box store” could be built in what is now a largely undeveloped residential area.

But board member Stephen Taylor, the lone vote in favor of recommending the proposal, said he felt a solar array would be financially beneficial for the town. 

He added that the project would be preferable to subdividing the land or to building anything with large areas of pavement. 

"Every time the town builds a cul-de-sac we go half broke," Taylor said.

At the same meeting, the board voted to recommend articles changing zoning maps and bylaw language on aquifer protection and the floodplain district, and recommended an article clarifying the language in bylaws relating to signage.

The Planning Board will be holding a joint meeting with the Finance Committee on April 16.