The Planning Board Monday opened the public hearing to discuss site plans for A.D. Makepeace's proposed solar energy project which would be located on a 43-acre parcel off of Charlotte Furnace Road.

The project site is landlocked and surrounded by A.D. Makepeace-owned forest and is located alongside high-voltage power lines which can transmit the power produced by the solar panels to customers. Solar panel project is expected to generate 6 Megawatts of power when completed.

Representatives from A.D. Makepeace along with representatives of Lowell-based Borrego Solar Systems Inc. appeared before the board. Borrego Solar Systems Inc. inked a 20-year lease with A.D. Makepeace on the land to operate the facility.

“The project will have no impact on traffic, wastewater, or nitrogen,” A.D. Makepeace Senior Vice President James Kane told the board. “And, it will generate tax revenue for the town."

Kane said the solar project is an opportunity to use a small, secluded portion of the company’s property to create a positive impact on the environment.

Board members expressed concern that residents of Charlotte Furnace Road were not notified, despite the town’s Assessing Department listing A.D. Makepeace as the only abutter to the project.

“I am here representing the people of the town,” Planning Board member Michael Baptiste said. “Once [the project is] in place it’s something we have to live with.”

Kane said that under state law residents of Charlotte Furnace Road would not need to be notified since they reside far enough away from the proposed facility.

“It is not a difference of opinion. We read the state law and this is state law,” Kane said.

The board chose to continue the public hearing until the applicant could provide written information specifying which residents, if any, must be notified because of their proximity to the project site.

The board also requested more information on the impact of solar panels on nearby power lines.

If approved, the large-scale solar energy project could be up-and-running as early as next April, Kane said prior to Monday’s hearing.

State permits for the project have already been obtained, Kane said.

This is the second of two solar panel projects in the works for A.D. Makepeace. Permits have already been approved and work has began on a 5.58-acre solar panel project located near Rosebrook Business Park. Once complete, the panel’s power will mainly be used to supplement the power used by the Rosebrook Business Park, Kane said.

The two projects are proposed to provide enough power to service more than 700 homes and remove approximately 5.7 million pounds of carbon dioxide from the environment, according to the company's fact-sheet on the project.

The public hearing will continue on September 26 at 7 p.m. in the lower level cafeteria at Town Hall, located at 54 Marion Road.