Worthington Planning Board Unanimously Approves Blue Wave Solar Application Completeness

WORTHINGTON — December 16, 2025 — Worthington Planning Board votes unanimously to advance Blue Wave solar application to full review. The board, meeting December 16 in an unusual 9 a.m. session, deemed the Blue Wave site plan review application at 190 Ridge Road complete under section 2.6.4 of the town's bylaws and simultaneously approved a December 15 letter of agreement with Blue Wave that merges the site plan review timeline with a special permit process and eliminates the standard 65-day completeness clock. The board chair rebuffed public arguments that the Conservation Commission's wetlands jurisdiction must be resolved first, saying town counsel had confirmed the two processes are legally distinct and that delay risked constructive court-granted approval with no conditions. A second unanimous vote accepted the Blue Wave agreement, with the letter filed with the town clerk and the combined hearing set for January 8. The board also began drafting up to three warrant articles — separate moratoriums on solar siting and battery energy storage systems, plus a site plan review procedural overhaul — citing Hadley's 2024 battery bylaw, approved by the Attorney General in spring 2025, as a model; GIS mapping presented by the chair suggested roughly 63 percent of Worthington's land area could be covered by proposed protection zones.