Plympton Planning Board Deems Solar Relocation a Major Modification Requiring New Application

PLYMPTON -- January 6, 2026, Plympton Planning Board fields solar relocation inquiry, orders landscape compliance notice at January 6 meeting. The board unanimously endorsed an approval-not-required subdivision plan transferring roughly one acre from a cell-tower parcel owned by a Mr. Yamano on Joey Freitas Way to Plympton Sand and Gravel for combination with abutting land. In the meeting's longest discussion, the new owner of 387 and 399 Main Street, in a contract dispute with solar developer New Leaf over a 2017 site plan approval set to expire in May 2027, asked whether he could shift the approved seven-acre solar installation from 399 to 387 and move an approved wedding venue the other direction; the board chair confirmed the swap would require a complete new site plan application, public hearing, and engineering review, telling the owner "if everything goes smoothly it's probably three months." The board also directed its chair to send a formal violation letter to the owner of a Lake Street solar field, copying the Building Department, after staff made multiple failed attempts since September to obtain a required annual landscape inspection from an entity identified as REA.