Separate LLCs filed the Walnut Plain Road and High Street applications. Both list the same Lowell address — New Leaf Energy’s.
By John Barrella
ROCHESTER — The two largest items on the Planning Board’s agenda tonight are asking to be put off before the meeting begins.
Applications for a pair of ground-mounted solar arrays, one on Walnut Plain Road and one off High Street, are both scheduled for public hearings at 7 p.m. at Town Hall. Both carry the same notation on the revised agenda filed with the assistant town clerk last Thursday: requested to continue until September 22.
The two projects were filed by separate corporate entities — Walnut Plain Road Solar 1, LLC, and High Street Solar 1, LLC and High Street Solar 2, LLC. All three list the same business address, 55 Technology Drive, Suite 102, in Lowell. That address belongs to New Leaf Energy, a commercial solar developer that names the High Street project as its own on its public project page. Both applications are represented before the board by the same firm, Beals and Thomas of Southborough.
Each would sit in Rochester’s Residential-Agricultural district.
The Walnut Plain Road application seeks a special permit and site plan review for a large-scale photovoltaic array at 0 Walnut Plain Road, listed on the assessor’s map as Map 14, Lot 1. The land is owned by BKK Holding, LLC, of Jupiter, Florida.
The High Street application is the larger of the two and the more complicated. It spans parcels across three assessor’s maps and seeks approval for a ground-mounted solar system paired with a battery energy storage system — the component that has drawn the most public attention at solar hearings across southeastern Massachusetts, largely over fire safety. The land is held by three limited liability companies sharing a South Dartmouth post office box: Ritter, C., LLC, and Hawes, P., LLC, and Hawes, M., LLC.
According to New Leaf Energy’s own description of the High Street project, the arrays would cover 44 acres, with roughly 90 acres of Eastern box turtle habitat permanently conserved. The company says the system would generate enough electricity to power up to 2,500 homes and produce about $150,000 a year in tax revenue for the town over 20 years, and that it would connect to a local substation now being upgraded. Those figures come from the developer and have not been independently verified.
Even with the hearing headed for a delay, part of the High Street project appears to be moving. Under board business, the agenda lists for signature the site plan review and special permit plans for High Street Solar Site A at 0 High Street — a separate parcel from those under continued hearing.
A third continued item involves Rochester Crossroads, the commercial and residential development at 22 Cranberry Highway. Steen Realty & Development Corp. has filed a modification to its site plan review covering the project’s access and underlying infrastructure: a septic system, the drainage network, underground utilities, site lighting and surface parking. That hearing was continued from July 14. Allen & Major Associates of Lakeville represents the applicant.
The one item positioned to actually be decided tonight is the smallest. Michael and Mary Fitzgerald of 83 Hiller Road have filed an Approval Not Required application to create a single new residential lot behind their property. Brian Wallace of JC Engineering in East Wareham represents them. The board is separately scheduled to sign a special permit for a backlot and common driveway at the same address.
Also on the agenda: minutes from the board’s August 18 meeting, vouchers for review, updates from the town planner, and time set aside for new business and public comment.
If you go. The Planning Board meets at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Town Hall, 1 Constitutional Way. The meeting is hybrid and is being televised and recorded. Residents may join by Zoom at us02web.zoom.us/j/87631772219, meeting ID 876 3177 2219, or by phone at 1-646-876-9923.
One note for anyone planning to participate remotely: the town’s meeting notice states that the in-person meeting will not be suspended or terminated if technical problems interrupt the remote connection. If the Zoom link fails, the board proceeds without it.
Sources
- Rochester Planning Board revised agenda for September 8, 2026, filed with the Assistant Town Clerk on September 3, 2026
- High Street Solar project page — New Leaf Energy (acreage, conserved habitat, generation and tax-revenue estimates, substation connection)
- Town of Rochester Planning Board — agendas and filings
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