NORWAY — At the first municipal meeting at the newly renovated Norway Town Hall on Danforth Street, the Planning Board on Thursday night advanced a proposed subdivision for final approval, approved Verizon’s request to update a cell tower on Pikes Hill Road and heard plans for two 1-acre solar arrays off Patch Mountain and Greenwood roads.
Thursday’s meeting was a public hearing for the proposed major subdivision on Greenwood Road.
At the Planning Board meeting Nov. 13, Michael Barnes of Main-Land Development Consultants presented plans for the subdivision.
The project, called Grandview Drive, would include 12 lots. Barnes said the lots meet the town’s minimum size and road frontage requirements.
A private road, already built, would provide access and be managed by a homeowners association. A stormwater pond would be built to absorb runoff from the upper half of the subdivision, and a stormwater basin would be constructed on the property.
Speaking on behalf of property owner Dale Verrill, Barnes said the lots would be sold to homebuilders, who would construct driveways and homes on the sites.
Barnes said test pits have already been dug on each site to identify suitable spots for leach fields, and at least one lot would affect wetlands.
At the meeting, Planning Board Chair Dennis Gray said one lot had “an awful lot of wetland” and asked where a building could be placed on it.
“If someone were to build a lot there, they would probably have to impact some wetlands and get the appropriate permitting for that,” Barnes said.
Barnes said there were no vernal pools in the wetlands and that the state had not designated them as significant.
The lots range from half an acre to more than 5 acres. The board questioned whether the smaller lots would be sold or remain open space in the subdivision.
“The intention is to sell off all 12 lots and not have any open space,” Barnes said.
Planning Board member Shirley Boyce said she was concerned about requiring a 20‑foot strip of vegetation on each lot to help block views from neighbors.
“It’s very important that the 20-foot strip be allowed to grow as a vegetative buffer,” she said.
At the meeting, Norway Code Enforcement Officer Chris Bilodeau said the fire chief and other department heads had reviewed and approved the site plans. The next step is for the Planning Board to consider the project’s official application.
In other matters, the Planning Board unanimously approved Verizon Wireless’s proposal to upgrade equipment on its tower at 134 Pikes Hill Road. Bilodeau said Verizon will replace nine antennas at the top of the tower and make other improvements.
“Hopefully service will improve around town,” Bilodeau said.
The Planning Board also heard about two planned solar arrays on Patch Mountain Road and Greenwood Road. Matt Kennedy, head of project development at the Maine Community Power Cooperative, which operates a solar array on Bolster’s Mills Road in Harrison, said the two proposed arrays, each about an acre, would provide power to the community.
The Maine Community Power Cooperative, created with support from the Center for an Ecology-Based Economy in Norway, is a community-based model in which member-owners receive credits that reduce Central Maine Power Co. bills.
Kennedy said the cooperative now has 150 members. He said each proposed array would generate enough electricity for about 50 households.
Board member Anthony Morra expressed concern that the projects would take up space in open fields.
Kennedy said land not used for the arrays would be used for agricultural purposes, such as sheep grazing and low‑input crops.
“We’re not trying to cut forests down, but build in open fields to minimize erosion and habitat disruption,” Kennedy said.
Gray said the next step for the proposed solar sites is a public hearing, tentatively scheduled for the next board meeting.
To end the meeting, Gray noted the newly renovated room where the board met, but suggested a different furniture arrangement for the next meeting.
“The audience is awfully far away,” he said. “We might want to move forward for the future.”
