Gorham Planning Board Advances Solar Project, Tables Dog Kennel Contract Zone

The Gorham Planning Board approved a site plan for a 0.99-megawatt solar array at Martin Place Farm on Fort Hill Road and approved a revised landscaping plan for the Dollar General store on Dingley Spring Road. The board tabled a contract zone request from Rough Life Retreat that would raise the dog limit from 10 to 55, pending submission of contract language, and sent a proposed large-scale data center restriction to its ordinance committee for workshop review.

Key points

• The board voted to send a proposed land use amendment defining and effectively prohibiting data centers of 50,000 square feet or more to the ordinance committee for workshop review, with members raising questions about the 50,000-square-foot threshold and the broader prohibition on uses not expressly listed in the code.
• The board tabled discussion of the Rough Life Retreat contract zone at 252 Ossipee Trail East until the applicant submits contract zone agreement language; the request would raise the allowed dog count from 10 to 55 and reduce the kennel setback from 100 feet to 40 feet along the CMP utility corridor.
• The board granted three waivers to Perennial Gorham Solar (underground utilities, exterior lighting, and landscaping) and approved the site plan for the 0.99-megawatt solar array on about 10 acres at 314 Fort Hill Road, with a road width reduction to 18 feet in sections near a stream.
• The board approved a landscaping plan amendment for the Dollar General at 77-5 Cornerstone Drive off Dingley Spring Road, after the applicant agreed to revise a native plant note; staff said abutter concerns about lighting and other issues were referred to the code office.
• The board held a sketch plan review discussion, with no vote, on the Brickyard Quarry expansion, a 6.3-acre addition to an existing quarry off Mosher Road in the industrial zone; the applicant said operations, noise, and traffic would remain under existing standards.
• No members of the public spoke during the public hearings on the data center amendment or the Rough Life Retreat contract zone.

Next steps

• The ordinance committee will hold a workshop review of the proposed data center amendment.
• The Rough Life Retreat applicant will draft contract zone agreement language for the board to review at a future meeting.
• Staff will schedule a site walk for the Brickyard Quarry expansion, targeted for late October, and will send a scheduling poll.
• The board will meet again on October 19, with three additional items expected on that agenda.

Read the full transcript