Remanded Route 25 solar hearing continued to June 22 after applicants and board agree to finalize conditions

The Wareham Planning Board re-opened a remanded public hearing June 8 on a contested ground‑mounted photovoltaic project at 0 Route 25 (Wearham PV1 LLC). The project is before the board after a land court remand and a settlement between the applicant and the town.

Applicant teams led by Aaron Hills and counsel Jonathan Clavens presented a revised, solar‑only design and asked the board to incorporate the prior application record into the remand hearing. The applicant said battery storage is not part of the amended application; a number of historical documents in the record referencing storage are remnants of earlier filings.

Sarah McCarthy (project consultant) summarized changes, including setbacks, revised buffer areas and updated stormwater management documents. Phil (engineering reviewer) said the stormwater peer review could be completed from existing peer review files with a modest additional effort using remaining 53G peer‑review funds.

Board members and residents pressed for clarity on decommissioning estimates, test pits and ecological protections for adjacent cranberry bogs and a vernal pool. The applicant agreed to provide the project's decommissioning cost spreadsheet, the final design set date and maintenance/operation documents for clear referencing in any approval.

The board voted to incorporate prior comments, submissions and stipulations into the remanded hearing record and continued the public hearing to June 22, 2026, to allow staff and peer reviewers to complete targeted checks and for the parties to finalize conditions (including decommissioning, O&M and stormwater assurances).