Acushnet Conservation Commission Continues Solar Bridge Hearing Over Wetland Disturbance Concerns

ACUSHNET -- November 13, 2025, Acushnet Conservation Commission pressed a solar developer over missing boulder data and incomplete bridge engineering plans at its November 13 meeting. The commission continued the amended order of conditions hearing for Copper Park Drive LLC's 4,999-kilowatt solar array project, which requires a timber bridge over a bordering vegetated wetland off Park Drive, to December 10, after Chairman Jim Sousa challenged the development team's plans for showing only four boulders in a corridor described as having hundreds. Representatives from York Bridge, appearing by phone, outlined a deck-level pile-driving methodology they said minimizes wetland disturbance, but Sousa, citing 42 years of pile-driving experience, said unresolved questions about boulder removal and spoil management meant permanent wetland impacts could not yet be quantified. The commission approved orders of conditions for two Deep Brook Estates LLC single-family lots on Park Drive, both represented by Jamie Bissonnette of Zenith Consulting, with the Lot 18G approval carrying strict driveway equipment and spill-kit conditions due to wetlands on both sides of the access road. The commission also approved a certificate of compliance for a 23 Wood Duck Road property and voted to allow a stormwater basin plan revision for Acushnet Solar LLC at 1050 Park Drive, conditioned on recorded proof of filing within 10 days.