SUNPIN ENERGY SERVICES, LLC, & Another v. ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS OF PETERSHAM (2025)

Citation: SUNPIN ENERGY SERVICES, LLC, & Another v. ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS OF PETERSHAM (2025)
Parent Document: SUNPIN ENERGY SERVICES, LLC, & Another v. ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS OF PETERSHAM (2025)
Jurisdiction: Massachusetts (state)
Effective Date: 2025-07-09
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10625896/sunpin-energy-services-llc-ano... ↗

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In reaching our conclusion, we are mindful that "[t]he board is entitled to deny a permit even 'if the facts found by the court would support its issuance.'"  Doherty v. Planning Bd. of Scituate, 467 Mass. 560, 566-567 (2014), quoting Shirley Wayside Ltd. Partnership v. Board of Appeals of Shirley, 461 Mass. 469, 475 (2012).  "[A] board's discretionary power of denial is not limitless:  it will be upheld up to those rarely encountered points where no rational view of the facts the court has found supports the board's conclusion" (quotations and citation omitted).  Wendy's, 454 Mass. at 383.  However, the board cannot deny a permit based on its preferences, or State "guidance" that has not been adopted by the Legislature or the town, particularly in view of the town's enactment of a bylaw provision that addresses the very issue of clearing natural vegetation for solar energy installations.  Indeed, the town acknowledged at oral argument that the town is at least ninety-seven percent forested -- a factor the town may well have considered in adopting the provision addressing clearing natural vegetation for solar energy installations.  Were it to deny a special permit for any large-scale solar electric installation project that requires clearing trees, there would be no distinction between the town's scheme and the one declared unlawful in Tracer Lane, 489 Mass. at 782.

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