Planning Board advances Clean Energy bylaw; defers town center zoning.
The Harvard Planning Board refined a comprehensive Clean Energy Facilities bylaw regulating solar installations and battery energy storage systems, assigning multiple action items to Community and Economic Development Director Jenny Gingras to bring the measure to public hearing. Chair John
Planning Board · Meeting of August 3, 2026
HARVARD — The Harvard Planning Board refined a comprehensive Clean Energy Facilities bylaw regulating solar installations and battery energy storage systems, assigning multiple action items to Community and Economic Development Director Jenny Gingras to bring the measure to public hearing. Chair John McCormack, alongside members Irene Battaglia and Richard Abt, reviewed dimensional standards, setback requirements, and permitting pathways over a two-hour session. The board standardized technical language, set ground-mounted solar arrays at 12 feet and canopy systems at 20 feet maximum height, and established 100-foot minimum setbacks for battery systems in residential areas.
Gingras also presented a reformatted zoning bylaw table consolidating regulations from decades of prior bylaws; the board agreed to review the draft before the next meeting. Members additionally clarified that affordable housing incentives for developments over 120 units would require 25 percent of additional rental units at 80 percent area median income.
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Source: the Planning Board meeting of August 3, 2026, compiled from the official minutes.
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