PETERSHAM – The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled in July that the Petersham Zoning Board of Appeals improperly denied a special permit for a proposed solar and battery storage project, sending the application back to the town for further review.
The project, proposed by Sunpin Energy Services, would include clearing trees from about 14.3 acres of a mostly wooded property on New Athol Road for a 4.3-megawatt solar array and 2-megawatt battery storage system, according to the SJC.
Petersham has a 5.16-acre, town-owned solar overlay district where large-scale solar projects do not require a special permit. Because Sunpin’s proposed site is outside the district, the company needed a special permit from the ZBA.
Following public hearings in 2021, two of the board’s three members voted to approve the application, while member Maryanne Reynolds voted against it. Because a unanimous vote was required, the permit was denied. Reynolds’ reasoning was based primarily on the significant tree clearing the project would require.
In 2023, Sunpin and Ralph P. Lapinkas Jr., who owns the property where the project is proposed, challenged the decision in Land Court, which sided with the ZBA. The Appeals Court overturned that ruling in 2025 and the case went to the SJC.
The SJC said that because 97% of Petersham is forested, denying the project based generally on significant tree clearing could prevent large-scale solar projects from being built in most of the town.
However, the court said towns can consider forest preservation when reviewing solar projects, as long as those concerns are tied to the specific project and where it would be built. The SJC found the Petersham board had not done that when it denied Sunpin’s permit.
“We are much happier now after the SJC ruling than we were at this time last year,” said Michael Shamgochian, a Petersham resident and attorney who represented the town before the SJC.
He said the earlier Appeals Court ruling left the town with little say over the proposed forest clearing.
“The town supports solar power and always has,” Shamgochian said. “But installing a massive array by clear-cutting mature, undeveloped forest – losing wildlife habitat, carbon storage, and tons of other public benefits – in a town like Petersham, where those benefits are weighed highly, deserves a public review by the town.”
The SJC did not order the ZBA to approve Sunpin’s special permit.
“If the Sunpin project proceeds, the town will have the opportunity to conduct the careful review the SJC envisioned,” Shamgochian said. “Everyone will benefit from that.”