The Borrego North High Street Solar project is headed to the Bridgton Board of Appeals.

Abutters filed an appeal to review the Planning Board’s failure to require compliance with applicable provisions of the Town of Bridgton Fire Prevention and Life Safety Ordinance and related rules of the State Fire Marshal’s office.

Planners approved the project July 8. 

The Board of Appeals will review the decision on Thursday, Aug. 26, at 5 p.m. at the Bridgton Town Office, lower level meeting room.

“The appellants generally support the solar farm project, but believe the Planning Board made an error of law by failing to require compliance with applicable fire protection standards in the project approval. That omission is the basis of this appeal,” wrote the appealing abutters Glen Jukkola and James Curtis of Kezar Heights, along with Kenneth Ainsley of White Mountain Way. “In a nutshell, we are not disputing the project itself, but believe that the solar farm should be built in compliance with all necessary local and state regulations, including the National Fire Prevention Association 1 Fire Code and Bridgton’s own Fire Protection and Life Safety Ordinance. Our objections stem from the Planning Board’s decision to waive two important Fire Code requirements.”

Requirements include:

• The Fire Code requires that fire department access roads be built with a minimum width of 20 feet. The project developer is proposing to build the last half mile of the access road only 14 feet wide. The developer stated that they only needed a 14-foot width for their own trucks to deliver the necessary materials to build the facility. 

“Little consideration was given for the needs of emergency vehicles, even though the solar farm will be built over a mile into a heavily wooded area with only a narrow gravel road for emergency vehicle access,” appellants wrote. “Some of the abutter’s homes will only be a short distance away from the solar farm and we are concerned that the proposed access road will be insufficient to allow the necessary fire department trucks, tankers, and other necessary emergency vehicles proper access for firefighters to deal with a fire occurring at this site.”

• The Fire Code also requires that fire department access roads need to be provided such that any portion of the facility is no more than 150 feet away from the access road. The proposed plan only has the access road going up partway along one side of the solar farm. 

“There will be difficult access for firefighters to deal with fires in certain portions of the solar farm. A firefighter entering the facility through the northwestern gate along its western boundary to fight a fire in its northeast corner, would have to travel nearly 1,100 feet to reach the farthest point in the solar array, coincidently, the closest point to the nearest abutter’s home,” appellants added.

In a May 13 letter to the Bridgton Planning Board, Jukkola pointed out that the 5MW power plant will be located in a dry wooded area immediately behind homes. Over 18 acres of land will be clear cut for the solar arrays. This area will be seeded and the resulting grass will be mowed twice per year to ensure that the vegetation does not shade the solar modules. The solar farm will include over 11,000 energized solar array modules and high voltage electrical equipment. 

“In addition to natural causes, there are a number of potential fire hazards associated with a solar farm that could ignite a fire that could then spread across the highly combustible dry grass (and accumulated grass clippings) under the solar arrays,” he wrote. “The high winds that are common in this area can easily spread a grass wildfire into the dry woods and toward our homes. The 5MW power plant will be located almost a mile into the woods yet will be unmanned. Early detection of a brush wildfire is critical for containment and shouldn’t depend upon a chance sighting by an overhead airplane or by concerned abutters observing smoke rising out of the woods directly behind their properties. The need for early response to a potential fire at the proposed solar farm is of paramount importance. This issue clearly stresses the need for easy access to the facility by emergency responders.”