Carlisle Planning Board Approves Landfill Solar Expansion, Schedules Zoom Vote on Gas Station Permit

CARLISLE — May 26, 2026 — Carlisle Planning Board unanimously approves landfill solar upgrade and sets June 9 Zoom vote on gas station permit. The board voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a site plan by Kearsarge Walden Street LLC to replace the aging 2013 solar array at the former municipal landfill at 755 Walden Street with a new 0.48-megawatt system using 595-watt panels and add a 2-megawatt-hour battery energy storage system — the first battery storage at the site — in four 20-foot containers on a concrete pad within the existing fence line. The board also continued a special permit site plan review for the Concord Country Store LLC at 166 Commonwealth Avenue, which seeks to renovate an existing gas station in the floodplain conservation district; outstanding conditions on lighting timers, snow storage, stormwater drainage, and delivery truck scheduling prevented a final recommendation vote. Because the Zoning Board of Appeals is scheduled to hear the Country Store application on June 11 and the board's next regular meeting falls on June 16, members scheduled a special Zoom meeting for 8 a.m. on June 9 to approve a draft recommendation letter. Select Board liaison Dean Banfield introduced himself at his first Planning Board meeting, calling the solar vote "something I've been advocating for a long time."