NOTICE: This opinion is subject to motions for reargument under V.R.A.P. 40 as well as formal 

revision before publication in the Vermont Reports. Readers are requested to notify the Reporter 

of Decisions by email at: JUD.Reporter@vermont.gov or by mail at: Vermont Supreme Court, 

109 State Street, Montpelier, Vermont 05609-0801, of any errors in order that corrections may 

be made before this opinion goes to press.

2016 VT 50

No. 2015-230

In re Petition of Rutland Renewable Energy, LLC 

for Certificate of Public Good Pursuant to 30 V.S.A.

§ 248, et al.

Supreme Court

On Appeal from

Public Service Board

October Term, 2015

James Volz, Chair

Alan B. George, Rutland, for Appellants-Neighbors.

Kevin E. Brown of Langrock Sperry & Wool, LLP, Middlebury, for Appellant Town of Rutland.

Kimberly K. Hayden and Danielle M. Changala of Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC, Burlington, for

 Appellee.

PRESENT: Reiber, C.J., Dooley, Skoglund, Robinson and Eaton, JJ.

¶ 1. DOOLEY, J. The Town of Rutland (“Town”) and five adjoining landowners 

(“neighbors”) appeal from the Vermont Public Service Board’s grant of a certificate of public 

good (“CPG”) under 30 V.S.A. § 248 to Rutland Renewable Energy, LLC (“RRE”) for 

construction of the Cold River Solar Project (“Project”), a 2.3 megawatt (Mw) solar photovoltaic 

electric generation facility. The Town and neighbors argue that the Board incorrectly held that 

the project will not unduly interfere with the orderly development of the region, will not have an 

undue adverse effect on aesthetics, and will not have an undue adverse impact on historic sites. 

We affirm. 
2

¶ 2. The facts are undisputed. On December 20, 2013, RRE filed a petition requesting 

a CPG under 30 V.S.A. § 248 to construct and operate a solar electric generation facility of up to 

2.3 Mw AC in the Town. The facility would be located southwest of the intersection of Cold 

River Road and Stratton Road, on approximately 15 acres of a larger parcel of land under 

contract for purchase by RRE. The parcel is bordered by Cold River Road, “increasing 

commercial and industrial uses,” a vacant wooded parcel, and four homes. Of the homes, one is 

separated from the site by a mature hedgerow, one is 150 feet from the project site, one is 280 

feet away, and the last is over 500 feet away up a hillside, although it does have a driveway near 

the site’s southernmost corner. While the parcel is currently an undeveloped open meadow, and 

the project area does include sections of a Class II wetland and four small Class III wetlands, the 

parcel is designated as “industrial/commercial” on the Town’s Future Land Use Map. The 

project would principally include: (1) about 542 solar racks supporting about 10,000 individual 

panels, although exact wattage, number of panels, and panel configuration will be determined 

during final design and procurement based on snow and wind analysis; (2) underground 

electrical lines connecting arrays to combiner boxes and inverters; (3) two 1150 kW inverters 

with a combined nameplate capacity of up to 2.3 Mw AC; 4) two 1500 kVA step-up 

transformers or one 2500 kVA step-up transformer; (5) a perimeter fence; and (6) an access area 

and new curb along Cold River Road to service the northern area, and an extension to an existing

access area along the road to service the southern area. The project would have a 64 foot setback 

from Cold River Road, with the perimeter fence 15 feet nearer to the road. 

¶ 3. On March 3, 2014, neighbors and the Town were granted permissive intervention 

by the Board. The Board appointed a hearing officer to take evidence and render a proposed 

decision for the Board. The hearing officer took evidence on each of the relevant requirements 

for issuing a CPG contained in 30 V.S.A. § 248(b). The Town and neighbors particularly 

contested (1) whether the project met the requirement that it “will not unduly interfere with the 
3

orderly development of the region”; (2) whether the project “will not have an undue adverse 

effect on esthetics”; and (3) whether the project “will not have an undue adverse effects on . . . 

historic sites”. Id. § 248(b)(1), (3), and (5).1 As discussed in more detail below, the hearing 

officer found that the proposal met all the requirements of § 248(b) if certain mitigation 

measures were in place.

¶ 4. The Board accepted most of the hearing officer’s decision and rationale. As we 

discuss below, the Board somewhat modified the rationale on aesthetics and added a mitigation 

measure. The Board issued a CPG on March 11, 2015. Neighbors moved for reconsideration on

March 26. The Board denied the motion on May 6, 2015, elaborating on its decision with 

respect to aesthetics. This appeal followed.

¶ 5. One significant part of the opposition of the Town and neighbors is their reliance 

on a document entitled Town of Rutland Solar Facility Siting Standards, which were adopted by 

the Town selectboard on October 22, 2013. The standards were drafted as an amendment to the 

Town plan. On December 19, the Town Planning Commission proposed an amendment to the 

Town plan incorporating the standards. The selectboard was expected to adopt the amendment 

in the summer of 2014.

¶ 6. The standards, as originally adopted by the selectboard, contain a number of 

provisions that are related to this appeal and are summarized below:

 

1

Section 248(b) contains additional requirements, which are not at issue in this appeal. 

The Town and neighbors also challenged the project because it is partially sited on primary 

agricultural soils. Section 248(b)(5) requires compliance with many, but not all, of the criteria of 

Act 250. See 10 V.S.A. §§ 6086(a)(1)-(9). Criterion 9(B) generally prohibits granting an Act 

250 permit if the development will “result in any reduction in the agricultural potential of the 

primary agricultural soils.” Section 248(b) does not require compliance with criterion 9(B) as 

part of the CPG process. The Town and neighbors argued that protection of primary agricultural 

soils was required by § 248(b)(1), which provides that the project must not “unduly interfere 

with the orderly development of the region.” The hearing officer and the Board addressed that 

issue. Given our resolution of the § 248(b)(1) question, we do not address the effect of siting the 

project on primary agricultural soils.
4

A. The Town desires to contribute its proportional share to 

meeting the renewable energy goals in Rutland County, as 

represented by its share of the land area of Rutland County—

2.08%—but “not to exceed that percentage contribution.” The 

siting standards are intended “to avoid and mitigate potential 

impacts of solar facility development, while promoting new 

installations in appropriate locations, and achieving 

proportionality in Rutland Town’s contribution to renewable 

energy solutions.” 

B. Under General Standards for Energy Projects, the document 

states that the Town will consider supporting four types of 

energy development. None of the types include new solar 

generation facilities. Larger projects must be community-scale 

“that are designed to meet the expected needs of Rutland 

Town.” 

C. Ground-mounted solar projects of a generation capacity of 1.5 

kW or greater “shall be located at least 200 feet from any 

property line and at least 200 feet from any public highway.” 

Renewable energy facility setbacks from property lines or 

occupied structures should be increased as necessary to 

mitigate identified aesthetics, historic sites, air and water 

purity, the natural environment, the use of natural resources, 

and the public health and safety, with due consideration having 

been given to . . . Act 250 criteria . . . and nuisances or 

adverse impacts upon adjoining property owners. 

D. Ground-mounted solar energy facilities shall not be “located 

on primary agricultural soils.” Such facilities with a generation 

capacity greater that 100 kW shall “be located on 

nonagricultural land.” 

E. Ground-mounted solar energy facilities “shall not be located 

within 500 [feet] of a building designated as a historic 

building.” 

It is undisputed that the project does not comply “with the property line, roadway, and historic 

structure setback requirements contained in the Standards.” The project site contains a variety of 

primary agricultural soils; the standards prohibit siting a ground-mounted solar facility on 

primary agricultural soils. The site has not, however, been used for agricultural production for 

15 to 20 years.

¶ 7. In its brief to this Court, the Town raises two principal arguments: (1) the Board 

failed to accord due consideration to the Town’s recommendations that the proposed facility will 

“unduly interfere with the orderly development of the region” in violation of 30 V.S.A. 
5

§ 248(b)(1); and (2) the facility will have an “undue adverse impact” on aesthetics, historic sites, 

and primary agricultural soils in violation of § 248(b)(5). Similarly, neighbors contend that the 

project will unduly interfere with the region’s orderly development and will have an undue 

adverse effect on aesthetics and historic sites.

¶ 8. This Court applies a “deferential standard of review in appeals from the Public 

Service Board.” In re Green Mountain Power Corp., 162 Vt. 378, 380, 648 A.2d 374, 376 

(1994). We recognize that: 

When the Board evaluates a petition for a CPG under 30 V.S.A.

§ 248, it is engaging in a legislative, policy-making process. The 

Board must exercise its discretion to weigh alternatives presented 

to it, utilizing its particular expertise and informed judgment. We 

give great deference to the Board’s expertise and judgment and 

accord a strong presumption of validity to the Board’s orders. We 

will affirm the Board’s findings unless they are clearly erroneous, 

and an appellant bears a heavy burden of demonstrating clear error. 

In re UPC Vt. Wind, LLC, 2009 VT 19, ¶ 2, 185 Vt. 296, 969 A.2d 144 (citations omitted). This 

is a highly deferential standard of review. Despite the limited standard of review, “we do not 

abdicate our responsibility to examine a disputed statute independently and ultimately determine 

its meaning.” In re MacIntyre Fuels, Inc., 2003 VT 59, ¶ 7, 175 Vt. 613, 833 A.2d 829 (mem.).

¶ 9. Under § 248(b)(1), a CPG may be issued for a facility if the Board finds that the 

facility “will not unduly interfere with the orderly development of the region with due 

consideration having been given to the recommendations of the municipal and regional planning 

commissions . . . [and] the recommendations of the municipal legislative bodies.” The main 

thrust of the arguments of the Town and neighbors is that the Board failed to give sufficient 

weight to the standards adopted by the Town legislative body. We emphasize that the statutory 

requirement relates to the orderly development of the region, not to a particular municipality 

within the region. Thus, in UPC Vt. Wind, 2009 VT 19, ¶ 20, we affirmed the Board’s analysis 

of compliance with the requirement based on the overall impact on a three-county region. 
6

¶ 10. We understand that the standard of review to address the Town’s opening 

argument led to a backlash that persuaded the Legislature to amend § 248 to give towns greater 

control over solar generation facilities. 2015, No. 56, §§ 26a, 26b, 26c. The new siting 

requirements in Act 56 were not in place when RRE filed its application or when the Board 

issued the CPG. They do not purport to be retroactive. Thus, we cannot consider the new 

requirements or the process that led to their enactment.2

¶ 11. Under this provision of § 248(b)(1), the parties have extensively argued the 

weight to be assigned to the Town solar facility siting standards, the proper interpretation of the 

Town plan and the interaction between the plan and the solar facility siting standards, the 

prohibition on siting on prime agricultural soils in the standards, and the setback requirements in 

the standards. We do not reach or resolve these arguments.

¶ 12. There was very little evidence of the project’s regional impacts; virtually all the 

evidence and arguments concerned the impacts on and within the Town. Indeed, the Board 

found that the “impacts are primarily localized in nature.” It concluded that “while in some 

 

2 Act 56 adds requirements in three statutory subsections: 30 V.S.A. § 248(a)(4)(F), id.

§ 248(b)(1)(B), and id. § 248(s). Section 248(a)(4)(F) provides legislative bodies and planning 

commissions the right to appear as a party in a § 248 proceeding. The Town legislative body 

appeared in this proceeding.

Section 248(b)(1)(B), allows municipalities to create screening requirements for groundmounted solar electric generation facilities and requires the Board to impose them unless it finds 

“that requiring such compliance would prohibit or have the effect of prohibiting the installation 

of such facility or have the effect of interfering with the facility’s intended functional use.” 

Although the adequacy of screening is an issue in this case, the Town has not created screening 

requirements.

Section 248(s) sets minimum setback requirements for ground-mounted solar electric 

generation facilities. Although there has been no adjudication of whether the project here would 

meet those setback requirements, it appears that it would not meet the minimum setback from a 

town highway of 100 feet, but would meet the minimum setback from other properties of 50 feet. 

See 30 V.S.A. § 248(s)(1), (3). The subsection contains no separate setback requirement for 

historic sites. Thus, the fact that the Town siting standards impose a separate setback 

requirement from a historic building is not reflected in the statute. The subsection does authorize 

the Board to impose a larger setback requirement, but there is no suggestion that the Board lacks 

the power to impose a setback requirement under the preexisting law.
7

instances localized impacts may be found to interfere with orderly regional development due to 

their character or severity, there is no credible evidence in the record that demonstrates that the 

localized impacts from this particular project would rise to such a level.” Neighbors respond that 

the testimony of their expert witness, a landscape architect, was undisputed and showed the 

requisite regional impact. Essentially, the witness testified that when a project is “incompatible 

with the land uses in its setting,” it may propagate and have adverse regional impacts, explaining 

that “no one of those projects will likely have a regional impact, but sprinkling those projects 

around a town or region without regard to their cumulative impact will certainly have such an 

impact.” Therefore, aside from the prediction of future replication, there was no actual evidence 

of regional impact. The Board recited the testimony that no one project is likely to have a 

regional impact and acted well within its discretion in finding the assertion of regional impact 

inadequate and not persuasive. We affirm the Board’s conclusion. Because of our resolution of 

this issue, we do not reach whether the Board gave “due consideration” to the recommendation 

of the Town as required by § 248(b)(1).

¶ 13. We next turn to the second set of arguments raised by both the Town and 

neighbors regarding the undue adverse impact of the solar facility upon aesthetics and historic 

sites. These issues arise under § 248(b)(5), which provides that the Board must find that the 

project “will not have an undue adverse effect on esthetics . . . [and] historic sites.” We start 

with aesthetics.

¶ 14. The Board has adopted a modified version of the Quechee test for determining 

aesthetic impact. The test is named after the decision that first adopted it, In re Quechee Lakes 

Corp., Nos. 3W0411-EB, 3W0439-EB, slip op. at 19-20 (Vt. Envtl. Bd. Nov. 4, 1985). We have 

approved the use of the Quechee test by the Board in reviewing a permit for a CPG. See In re 

Petition of Cross Pollination, 2012 VT 29, ¶ 10, 191 Vt. 631, 47 A.3d 1285 (mem.). The test 

first asks whether the project will have an adverse effect on scenic and natural beauty in the area 
8

in which it is located. Id. It is undisputed that the project here has such an effect. It then asks 

whether the adverse effect is undue. An adverse impact on scenic and natural beauty is not 

undue if three conditions are met: 

First, the project must not violate a clear, written community 

standard intended to preserve the aesthetics or scenic, natural 

beauty of the area. Second, it must not offend the sensibilities of 

the average person. Finally, the applicant . . . must take generally 

available mitigating steps that a reasonable person would take to 

improve the harmony of the proposed project with its 

surroundings. 

Id. (citations omitted).

¶ 15. The Town and neighbors argue that none of these requirements are met. They

rely on the setback requirements contained in the Town of Rutland Solar Facility Siting 

Standards, which they argue are “a clear, written community standard intended to preserve the 

aesthetics or scenic, natural beauty of the area.” As to the second condition, the Town and 

neighbors argue that the Board improperly failed to consider the effect on the sensibilities of the 

nearby neighbors. Finally, the parties argue that the Board should have considered imposing a 

smaller setback as a mitigation requirement.

¶ 16. The Board rejected these arguments, holding that each of the conditions was met 

and the adverse impact was not undue. With respect to the first element, the Board held that the 

setback requirements were de facto zoning requirements and could not be considered a 

community standard because they did not identify an area, and the specific resources in that area,

to be protected.

¶ 17. With respect to the first reason, the Board relied upon 24 V.S.A. § 4413(b), which 

provides that zoning bylaws “shall not regulate public utility power generating plants and 

transmission facilities regulated under 30 V.S.A. § 248.” Setback requirements are a core 

component of local zoning. See id. § 4411(a)(3) (zoning may regulate “distances to be left 

unoccupied by uses and structures”). The Town has not, however, adopted a local zoning 
9

ordinance, and the solar siting standards were not adopted as a zoning ordinance. Instead they 

were adopted as a “supporting plan” under § 4403(5) without the process required for the 

municipal plan.3 See id. §§ 4382-85.

¶ 18. The Board’s holding is a modification of the Quechee test because the test was 

created for Act 250 review, and such review does not generally supplant local zoning regulation. 

The Town and neighbors argue that the solar siting standards are “clear written community 

standards” by any definition of those terms. We might adopt that view if we were dealing with 

Act 250, where state and local regulatory review coexist. Here, we are dealing with a situation 

where, under existing law, municipalities have a different role. The effect of the solar siting 

standards under the theory of the Town and neighbors is to enable the Town to control solar 

generation siting through the Quechee test. We agree with the Board that a modification of the 

Quechee test is necessary to give the Board the necessary regulatory power. As the recent 

amendments to § 248 reflect, the Legislature can change the balance between state and local 

regulation as it deems appropriate. In the absence of such a statutory change, the Board has the 

final policy decision. Under the deferential standard of review, we must uphold that policy 

choice.

¶ 19. We have a similar reaction to the Board’s second rationale—that the community 

standard element is intended to allow the municipality to identify designated areas and resources 

that need protection. That was the rationale for the Board’s decision on aesthetics in UPC 

Vermont Wind, 2009 VT 9, ¶ 26, and we affirmed the Board’s reasoning and conclusion. We 

 

3

The municipal plan is made up, in part, of component plans. Id. § 4382(a). It is 

unclear whether the component plans are the supporting plans referenced in § 4403(5). In 

addressing the effect of the siting standards, the hearing officer to the Board concluded that the 

supporting plans were separate documents and were not required to be incorporated into the 

municipal plan. Under this theory, there is no specific statutory process for creation of a 

supporting plan. We note, however, that the term “supporting plan” necessarily means that this 

plan cannot be inconsistent with the municipal plan. The Board found an inconsistency, and we 

agree. Presumably, this is why the Town was in the process of incorporating the siting standards 

in the municipal plan.
10

similarly affirm it here. The Town never identified the area of this project for special protection 

to protect aesthetics or scenic beauty. In fact, the municipal plan specified that its future use 

would be for industrial/commercial development. The site is a low-lying meadow, and the solar 

panels generally do not interfere with views of surrounding vistas. 

¶ 20. We next address the second element: that the project does not offend the 

sensibilities of the average person. The Board decided that this element was met largely based 

on the testimony of the expert witnesses. The Town and neighbors argue that the average person 

for purposes of the test should be put in the position of the close neighbors, and the testimony 

was that the neighbors’ sensibilities were offended. The Board responded that it had considered

the visual impact on neighbors but, generally, the test considered the perspective of an average 

member of the public. It specifically stated that the Quechee test “require(s) that reasonable 

consideration be given to the visual impacts on neighboring landowners.” 

¶ 21. We conclude that this issue is controlled by our recent decision in In re VTel 

Wireless, Inc., 2015 VT 135, ___ Vt. ____, ____ A.3d ____. In that case, neighboring property 

owners sought to intervene in a CPG proceeding for a communication facility under 30 V.S.A. 

§ 248a, alleging that the project would have an undue adverse effect on aesthetics as viewed 

from the neighbors’ property. The Board denied intervention, and the neighbors appealed. 

Although the neighbors argued that the Board improperly found his interest to be irrelevant, we 

concluded that the Board did consider the neighbors’ interest but did not consider it sufficient to 

find the adverse impact on aesthetics undue. Id. ¶ 15 (stating that “[r]egardless” of legal 

relevance of impact on private parties, the landowners’ argument “lacked sufficient weight to 

raise significant issue” on the merits). We reach a similar conclusion here. In determining 

whether there has been an undue adverse impact, considering the sensibilities of the average

person, the Board can and should consider all vantage points, including from private property. 
11

Here, the Board did consider neighbors’ perspective and required extensive screening to mitigate 

that impact. Under our standard of review, we affirm the decision.

¶ 22. We acknowledge that, in addition to considering neighbors’ interest, the Board 

ruled that the test definition of an average person meant “the average member of the viewing 

public who would see a particular project from the vantage point of the public;” that is, while the 

Board must consider all vantage points, it does so from an objective, as opposed to subjective 

and neighborly, perspective. The Board did, however, specifically address neighbors’ specific 

concerns and interests in its mitigation requirement. Thus, the Board stated:

 [I]n this case RRE has sought to mitigate the aesthetic impacts of 

the Project through a vegetative screening proposal. Additionally, 

as discussed below, in recognition of the unique circumstances of 

the project, we have taken into account the Project’s visual impacts 

on the surrounding property owners and have decided to impose 

some additional mitigation intended to soften those impacts to the 

extent possible without unreasonably altering the nature of the 

Project. 

. . .

The Hearing Officer correctly describes Board precedent that holds 

that while the aesthetics criterion does not guarantee that views of 

the landscape will never change, it does require that reasonable 

consideration be given to the visual impacts on neighboring 

landowners.

The Board went on to impose mitigation requirements to lessen the impact on a particular 

neighbor additional to those proposed and one added by the hearing officer. We recognize that 

the Board has, to a certain extent, merged the second and third conditions to determine whether 

there is an undue adverse impact under the Quechee test, but our point is that its analysis looked 

separately at the impact on neighbors. We reiterate that this case has essentially the same 

posture as VTel Wireless, and we affirm it for the same reason.

¶ 23. Finally, on the matter of aesthetics, we consider the third element of the Quechee

analysis: whether the applicant has taken generally available mitigation steps. The hearing 
12

officer ordered mitigation steps to screen the project from neighbors as proposed by RRE, with 

several additional measures. The Town and neighbors reargued the need for the full setback as 

required by the solar facility siting standard as a necessary mitigation measure. The hearing 

officer found that imposing the setback requirements, including the 500-foot setback requirement 

required for historic structures would frustrate the project’s purpose because it would cause a 

“very significant reduction in the size and capacity of the array.” Before the Board, neighbors 

argued that the hearing officer failed to consider their alternative request for a setback 

requirement smaller than that provided in the solar facility siting standards, but greater than the 

64 feet proposed by RRE. The Board held that neighbors never proposed an alternative setback 

requirement. In response to the motion for reconsideration, the Board explained that a witness 

for neighbors stated “reducing the size of the project should be considered,” but never proposed 

an alternative setback requirement. 

¶ 24. We conclude that the Board’s ruling is well within its discretion, and the 

Neighbors did not offer a fully formed proposal for an alternative setback requirement. 

¶ 25. The dissent has raised a new argument on this prong of the Quechee test, not 

raised before the Board. The dissent argues that RRE did not address whether it could mitigate 

the adverse effect by moving the project to a new site “to improve the harmony of the proposed 

[project] with its surroundings.” Post, ¶ 55. The dissent notes that neighbors had argued that 

there were alternative sites in more developed, non-residential areas of the town. Post, ¶ 54. In 

making this argument, the dissent argues that In re Halnon, 174 Vt. 514, 811 A.2d 161 (2002)

(mem.), holds that an applicant must show that alternative sites that reduce the adverse aesthetic 

effect are unavailable.

¶ 26. We disagree that Halnon applies here. In that case, the applicant proposed to site 

a wind turbine in a location on his sixty-two acres of property that was directly within the view 

of the Green Mountains from a neighbor’s residence. The neighbor argued, and the hearing 
13

officer for the Board concluded, that there were better locations on the property for the turbine. 

Finding that the applicant failed to demonstrate that the alternative locations on the property 

could not be used to mitigate the adverse aesthetic effect, the Board denied the CPG. We 

affirmed based on the standard of review. Id. at 518, 811 A.2d at 166. 

¶ 27. In this case, the issue is not whether there is an alternative location on the 

property owned by RRE because the proposal already uses all the available land. The dissent 

seeks to expand Halnon into a burden to show that there is not a better alternative site anywhere 

in the town,4or at least in any non-residential area of the town, even though RRE does not own 

or control the land on which the solar project might be sited. In essence, RRE would be required 

to show that the proposed site for the solar array is the best site in the town, apparently by 

systematically evaluating and excluding every other possible site.

¶ 28. The burden the dissent would impose on an applicant is unreasonable, and 

probably unmeetable. We can find no precedent that suggests that it is part of the Quechee test. 

Moreover, even if the evaluation of other properties were part of the Quechee test, the initial 

burden to demonstrate an alternative site is on the opponents, not on the applicant. In In re 

Goddard College Conditional Use, 2014 VT 124, 198 Vt. 85, 111 A.3d 1285, an Act 250 case, a 

neighbor argued that the applicant failed to show there were not alternative sites for a woodchip 

heating plant on its property. The only support for considering any alternative site was the 

neighbor’s testimony that a representative of the applicant told her that the applicant had 

considered and rejected two or three other sites. Id. ¶ 12. We held that the testimony was 

inadequate to meet the neighbor’s initial burden because the “neighbor presented no evidence 

 

4

 The dissent does not say that the alternatives evaluated would have to be in the town, 

and there is no logical reason, other than the cost and extent of the burden in complying, why 

Town boundaries would control the inquiry. We note that the Town has tried through its solar 

siting standards to designate where solar generation projects should not be sited, but has not 

specified where in the town, if any, they should be sited. In fact, as the summary in ¶ 6, supra, 

shows, at least part of the Town’s intent appears to be to exclude large solar projects.
14

that, for example, a suitable alternate site is ‘reasonably feasible’ (i.e., it would not frustrate the 

project’s purpose or Act 250’s goals), or that the alternative satisfies the requirements.”5 Id. If 

anything, the very general testimony in support of an alternative site here is even weaker than 

that in Goddard College Conditional Use. By comparison, in Halnon, the neighbor identified 

specific alternative sites on the applicant’s property to which the applicant could move the 

proposed project, the issue was fully raised and joined before the hearing officer, and the Board 

denied the CPG. We cannot conclude that neighbors’ argument was properly preserved, but, 

even if it was preserved, we would reject it. We therefore affirm the Board’s conclusion that the 

project met the third element of the Quechee test.

¶ 29. Finally, we reject the argument that the project will have an undue adverse impact 

on historic sites. As with the Quechee test, the Board follows an Act 250 decision from the 

Vermont Environmental Board, In re Middlebury College, No. 9A0177-EB (Vt. Envtl. Bd. Jan. 

26, 1990), to determine whether the project has an undue adverse impact on historic structures. 

This test has three parts: (1) whether there are historic structures on the site or nearby that are

affected by the project; (2) whether the effect is adverse; and (3) whether the adverse effect is 

undue. In finding no undue adverse effect, the hearing officer relied upon a historic resources 

expert witness supplied by RRE, as well as a determination by the Vermont Division for Historic 

Preservation that the project would have no undue adverse impact on nearby historic resources. 

The Neighbors argue that the witness who appeared before the Board spoke only to the public’s 

ability to interpret or appreciate the historic qualities of the sites and not to the other three 

conditions that underlie the third element of the Middlebury College test: failure to take 

 

5

 In Halnon, we assumed that meeting the mitigation requirement could involve 

relocation of the wind turbine on the applicant’s property without examining the issue. In 

Goddard College Conditional Use, we explicitly declined to rule “whether alternative siting 

within a project tract may be considered as a reasonable mitigating measure (as opposed to a 

whole different project not subject to consideration in an Act 250 permitting proceeding).” 2014 

VT 124, ¶ 11. We consider the question still open even in the narrow circumstances presented in 

those cases.
15

generally available mitigating steps to preserve the character of the site, cumulative effects on 

the historic qualities by various components which together are so significant they create an 

unacceptable impact, and violation of a clear, written community standard. Because “it is for the 

Board, not this Court, to weigh the evidence and assess the credibility of witnesses,” UPC Vt. 

Wind, 2009 VT 19, ¶ 21, we cannot here say that there was inadequate support for the witness’ 

opinion that the project would not have an undue impact on historical resources. We have 

addressed above with respect to aesthetics the argument that the solar facility siting standards 

supplied a written community standard and that the mitigation plan proposed by RRE was 

inadequate. That analysis also applies here. As to the cumulative effects on the historic qualities 

of the site, we are convinced by the Hearing Officer’s and Board’s reliance on the entire record

including the independent analysis by the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation. 

Affirmed. 

FOR THE COURT:

Associate Justice

¶ 30. ROBINSON, J., concurring. A critical unanswered question in this case is: 

what does the Board have to do in order to give “due consideration” to the recommendations of 

municipal legislative bodies and planning commissions pursuant to 30 V.S.A. § 248(b)(1)? The 

majority does not address this question because it concludes that the dearth of evidence as to the 

regional as opposed to the municipal or local impact of the project is dispositive.6 The dissent 

 

6

I concur in the majority’s view that 30 V.S.A. § 248(b)(1) expressly calls for 

consideration of the regional impact of a project, but do not believe that purely local impacts are 

wholly irrelevant to the Board’s analysis. The Legislature would not have required the Board to 

consider the recommendations of municipal planning and legislative bodies if the municipal 

impact of a project was irrelevant to the issues before the Board. See id. (requiring the Board to 

give “due consideration” to recommendations of municipal and regional planning commissions, 

and municipal legislative bodies, and to land conservation measures contained in any affected 
16

persuasively catalogs the Board’s myriad slights of the Town’s enacted standards, and calls for a 

“more balanced” approach, but does not grapple with the meaning of “due consideration” and its 

impact on the scope of our appellate review.

¶ 31. Although I agree with the dissent that the Board indulged every inference against 

the limitations on siting solar facilities reflected in the Town’s standards, and afforded no 

deference whatsoever to the solar siting standards of the town in which the project was to be 

located, I concur in the affirmance of the Board’s decision because as currently written, 

§ 248(b)(1) does not require any such deference. Nobody contends that the Board here ignored 

or failed to acknowledge the Town’s solar siting standards. The challenge here is to the 

substance of the Board’s treatment of those standards—its explanations of why it declined to 

assign significant weight to various provisions. The Town’s argument boils down to the claim 

that the Board was insufficiently respectful of the Town’s recommendations and input, as 

reflected in its solar siting standards. But nothing in the plain language of the statute, our prior 

decisions construing the statute, or the recent legislative debate highlighted by the Town supports 

the contention that the Board must defer to the Town’s recommendations to any degree. 

Moreover, the Town’s suggestion that we review the Board’s decision to determine whether it 

was made in “good faith,” is unworkable for several reasons. 

¶ 32. To the extent that this lack of deference reflects, as the Town argues, that the 

Board has “turned a deaf ear” to the concerns raised by towns in connection with solar projects, 

this Court is not empowered to rewrite the statute to respond to the Town’s critique. Resolution 

of this heated tension between respect for municipal self-determination and the state’s policy of 

aggressively promoting solar power generation falls to the Legislature. 

 

municipal plan). For that reason, I concur in the majority’s judgment of affirmance, although I 

do not fully join the majority’s reasoning, with respect to the § 248(b)(1) issue. In all other 

respects, I join the majority’s analysis and opinion. 
17

¶ 33. The relevant statute provides that the Board, before issuing a certificate of public 

good, must find that the project “will not unduly interfere with the orderly development of the 

region with due consideration having been given to the recommendations of the municipal and 

regional planning commissions, the recommendations of the municipal legislative bodies, and 

the land conservation measures contained in the plan of any affected municipality.” Id. 

§ 248(b)(1). Although the statute calls for “due consideration,” of municipal recommendations, 

it does not purport to describe what consideration is “due” or to identify whether the Board or the 

Court is the ultimate arbiter of the level of consideration due in a particular instance. Instead, its 

admonition that the Board must afford the Town’s standards “due consideration” is reminiscent 

of the phrase, “with all due respect,” which invariably precedes and qualifies a statement 

evincing little to no respect at all. 

¶ 34. The black letter maxims of statutory construction add little to the mix. On the one 

hand, if “due consideration” is synonymous with “consideration,” then the inclusion of the 

qualifier “due” is superfluous. See Trombley v. Bellows Falls Union High Sch. Dist. No. 27, 

160 Vt. 101, 104, 624 A.2d 857, 860 (1993) (“[W]e presume that language is inserted in a statute 

advisedly” and thus “do not construe the statute ‘in a way that renders a significant part of it pure 

surplusage.’ ” (citations omitted)). 

¶ 35. On the other hand, if something more than mere “consideration” is required of the 

Board, the Legislature has offered no insight into what that may be. The Legislature knows how 

to require an agency to defer, conditionally or completely, to the judgment of another body. See, 

e.g., 24 V.S.A. § 2787(1) (requiring executive branch to defer to plan of regional economic 

development commission in distributing certain funds, or to provide regional planning 

commission with its basis for not deferring); 10 V.S.A. § 6086(d) (describing that in Act 250 

permitting process, “technical determinations of the Agency [of Natural Resources] shall be 

accorded substantial deference” by district commissions); id. (stating that “district 
18

commission[s], in accordance with rules . . . , shall accept” certain determinations by 

development review board with respect to review of municipal impacts, creating presumption 

that application is or is not detrimental to public health and welfare with respect to specific 

requirement for which it is accepted); 16 V.S.A. § 806k(d) (stating that in connection with 

interstate compact on educational opportunity for military children, “court shall give deference to 

the actions of the Interstate Commission consistent with applicable law and shall not find the rule 

to be unlawful if the rule represents a reasonable exercise of the Interstate Commission’s 

authority”). An Act 250 permit may not be issued unless the project is “in conformance with 

any duly adopted local or regional plan.” 10 V.S.A. § 6086(a)(10). Yet the Legislature has not 

included in § 248 any language suggesting that the Board must afford any deference to the 

Town’s recommendations, explain its departure from those recommendations, or ensure that the 

project conforms to the Town’s recommendations. See Morin v. Essex Optical/The Hartford, 

2005 VT 15, ¶ 7, 178 Vt. 29, 868 A.2d 729 (“[W]e will not read terms into the statute unless 

necessary to make the statute effective.”). 

¶ 36. In fact, the permitting process pursuant to § 248 preempts municipal zoning 

requirements altogether—an aspect of the statutory structure that further undermines any 

suggestion that the Board owes deference to the Town’s solar siting standards. See City of S.

Burlington v. Vt. Elec. Power Co., 133 Vt. 438, 447-48, 344 A.2d 19, 25 (1975) (holding 

municipal zoning regulation of transmission line preempted by state regulatory authority). On 

balance, the plain language of the statute requires that the Board consider and perhaps even 

address the Town’s recommendations as to the effect of the project on development in the 

region. Beyond that, the statute does not require the Board to give any particular weight to the 

Town’s recommendations beyond that weight the Board, within its discretion, deems to be 

“due.” 
19

¶ 37. This Court has never held that “due consideration” requires deference to the 

municipality. See, e.g., In re UPC Vt. Wind, LLC, 2009 VT 19, ¶ 17, 185 Vt. 296, 969 A.2d 144 

(“Under the plain terms of the statute . . . the Board need only give ‘due consideration’ to the 

recommendations of the municipal and regional planning commissions in deciding [if] the 

project will not unduly interfere with the orderly development of the region.”); City of S.

Burlington, 133 Vt. at 447, 344 A.2d at 25 (“ ‘Due consideration’ for municipal legislative 

bodies . . . at least impliedly postulates that municipal enactments, in the specific area, are 

advisory rather than controlling.”); Petition of Vt. Elec. Power Co., 131 Vt. 427, 435, 306 A.2d 

687, 692 (1973) (“[T]he Board extended to the Planning Commission the same opportunity to be 

heard as the other parties and due consideration was given to the recommendations of the 

Planning Commission. Thus, on this record, we conclude the Board complied with the 

requirements of 30 V.S.A. § 248(b)(1).”). 

¶ 38. The Legislature’s 2015 changes to the statutes regulating solar siting, cited by the 

Town, likewise does not support the view that “due consideration” requires a modicum of 

deference to the Town’s solar standards. The Town notes that in 2015, in response to growing 

controversy about municipal authority, or the lack thereof, in the siting of renewable energy 

generation projects, the Legislature changed the applicable law to provide more municipal input 

into the process. However, the changes cited by the Town do not alter the “due consideration” 

standard or suggest that it incorporates an element of deference.

¶ 39. Rather, the 2015 amendments reinforce the Town’s limited role in light of the 

“due consideration” standard. The amendments gave the legislative body and planning 

commission for the municipality in which a facility is located party status in proceedings under

§ 248(a), 2015, No. 56 § 26a; established minimum setback requirements and authorized the 

Board to approve smaller setbacks upon agreement of the applicant, each adjoining owner, and 

the municipal legislative body, id. § 26b; and required that projects comply with screening 
20

requirements of municipal bylaws or ordinances unless the Board finds that requiring such 

compliance would prohibit or have the effect of prohibiting the installation of such a facility or 

have the effect of interfering with the facility’s intended functional use, id. § 26c-26e. The 

Legislature enacted these amendments to the statute after we had repeatedly held that the “due 

consideration” standard means that a municipality’s enactments are “advisory,” two months after 

the Board decision in this case, and in the context of acknowledged public controversy about the 

lack of municipal control over local solar siting. It left the “due consideration” provision intact, 

even though it amended other language in § 248(b). Although legislative inaction following 

judicial construction of a statute may be “of small consequence where the statute or its 

contemporaneous interpretation was not called to the legislature’s attention,” Lake Bomoseen 

Ass’n v. Vt. Water Res. Bd., 2005 VT 79, ¶ 21, 178 Vt. 375, 886 A.2d 355, under the 

circumstances present here, the Legislature’s retention in 2015 of the “due consideration” 

standard undermines the argument that the Legislature intended for § 248(b)(1) to require 

deference to municipal solar siting standards.7 

¶ 40. The Town’s more modest position that the Board’s “due consideration” requires, 

at a minimum, that it analyze the recommendations and limitations reflected in the Town’s solar 

 

7 Moreover, the 2015 amendments delineate a very specific and circumscribed subject 

matter—screening––with respect to which municipalities are now entitled to some deference. 

The specificity of the 2015 amendments regarding the deference that now is due to certain 

municipal enactments reinforces that municipalities still enjoy no particular deference regarding 

solar siting more generally. See, e.g., State v. Eldert, 2015 VT 87, ¶ 27, __ Vt. __, 125 A.3d 139 

(recognizing maxim of statutory interpretation that “the expression of one thing is the exclusion 

of another”). Given the content of the 2015 amendments, they cannot be viewed as clarifying the 

Legislature’s intent regarding municipal authority over solar siting to support the contention that 

the law requires deference to the Town’s solar siting standards generally. I note that 

contemporaneous with this Court’s consideration of this case, the Legislature has been in the 

throes of squarely addressing the degree of deference to be afforded municipal development 

plans in solar siting. See S.230, An act relating to improving the siting of energy projects, 

passed by the Senate on March 31, 2016, SJ 124 P. 760. If ultimately passed, this legislation 

may significantly impact the deference due to municipalities in the solar siting process on a 

prospective basis. As of the date of this decision, the Legislature’s consideration of this bill has 

not run its course. 
21

siting standards “in good faith” is unworkable for several reasons. First and foremost, as an 

appellate review body, I do not believe this Court is well positioned to evaluate the subjective 

good faith of members of the Board. And absent extraordinary circumstances, I personally 

would be loath to accuse another tribunal of “dishonesty of belief, purpose or motive.” See 

Black’s Law Dictionary at 149 (10th ed. 2014) (defining bad faith). 

¶ 41. Second, the “bad faith” standard for evaluating “due consideration” would shift 

our focus from the ordinary questions we customarily consider on review: Were the Board’s 

factual findings clearly erroneous? Did its conclusions flow from its findings? Did it err in 

interpreting the law? And was its determination within its broad discretion? A Board decision 

based on findings that are unsupported by the evidence, conclusions that do not flow from the 

findings, or an erroneous interpretation of the law may be subject to reversal for those reasons, 

without the need to analyze the Board’s motivations. On the other hand, a decision that falls 

within the Board’s broad discretion that is based on accurate understandings of the applicable 

law, conclusions that flow from the Board’s findings, and findings that are supported by the 

evidence, is affirmable without the need to consider the subjective motivations of the members 

of the Board. See 30 V.S.A. § 11(b) (stating that on appeal to Supreme Court, Board’s “findings 

of fact shall be accepted unless clearly erroneous”); Petition of New England Tel. & Tel. Co., 

159 Vt. 459, 461-62, 621 A.2d 232, 235 (1993) (stating that where Board’s findings “ ‘fairly and 

reasonably’ support the agency’s conclusions of law, this Court will uphold the agency’s 

decision” (citation omitted)). 

¶ 42. Perhaps most important, evaluating the subjective motivations of the Board in this 

case would thrust this Court into the center of an intense policy debate and accompanying 

political maelstrom to address a contentious issue squarely within the province of the 

Legislature. The Town has painted a compelling picture of a Board aggressively pursuing solar 

project development in response to targets established by the Legislature for the development of 
22

renewable energy, and frustrated municipalities all around the state that feel “ignored” and 

“steamrolled” by the Board. Whether the current statutory scheme, which gives the Town the 

opportunity to have plans and recommendations considered by the Board but does not assign any 

particular weight to the Town’s position, strikes the best balance between the goal of developing 

more renewable energy generation capacity in Vermont and respect for local regulation of land 

use is a political and policy question appropriately directed to the Legislature. In fact, as noted 

above, the Legislature is presently in the midst of considering a bill that squarely addresses the 

question. As this Court explained in another context, “If the provisions of [the statute] seem 

unfair or unjust, the remedy is to change the law itself. This can be effected by the legislature 

and should not be done by judicial fiat under the guise of statutory interpretation.” Riddel v. 

Dep’t of Emp’t Sec., 140 Vt. 82, 88, 436 A.2d 1086, 1089 (1981); see also Sirloin Saloon v. 

Dep’t of Emp’t & Training, 151 Vt. 123, 129, 558 A.2d 226, 229 (1989) (“[T]he policy issue is 

for the Legislature, not this Court, whereas here the statute is plain on its face.”). 

¶ 43. For these reasons, I concur in the majority’s affirmance, and the majority’s 

reasoning on all points, except that I do not join the majority’s analysis of whether the Board 

complied with § 248(b)(1) to the extent that the majority rests its analysis entirely on the lack of 

evidence concerning the impact of this project on the orderly development of the region.

Associate Justice

¶ 44. REIBER, C.J., dissenting. I cannot agree with the majority that the Public 

Service Board gave due consideration to the Town of Rutland’s recommendations for this solar 

energy project or sufficient regard to the Town’s standards for preserving the project area’s 

natural beauty and aesthetics, as required by law. The choice confronting the Board here was not 

between yielding to the Town’s solar-energy standards or simply disregarding them. “Due 
23

consideration” of the Town’s recommendations and concerns required a more balanced approach 

which, if properly applied, might well have produced a different result. Accordingly, I 

respectfully dissent. 

¶ 45. The Board here relied heavily on this Court’s observation in City of South 

Burlington v. Vermont Electric Power Company that the “due consideration” which the Board 

must give to the Town’s recommendations under 30 V.S.A. § 248(b)(1)8“impliedly postulates 

that municipal enactments, in the specific area, are advisory rather than controlling.” 133 Vt. 

438, 447, 344 A.2d 19, 25 (1975). What this means in practical terms is essential to determine 

whether the Board fulfilled its statutory obligation. Here, the Town’s “recommendations” were 

based largely on its standards. These were duly enacted by the Town’s selectboard in 2013 when 

it became aware of plans for industrial-sized solar energy projects within the Town that its 

current land-use plan, due to expire the following year, did not contemplate or address. In 

specifically declining, therefore, to address “the weight to be assigned to the Town solar facility 

siting standards,” the majority evades the most important issue for decision. Ante, ¶ 11. 

¶ 46. It is not an issue that the Board itself evaded. On the contrary, a fair reading of 

the Board’s decision makes it clear that it viewed the standards as little more than obstructionist 

and borderline illegitimate, and weighted them accordingly. The Board hearing officer focused 

on what he perceived to be a telling “inconsistency” between the designation of the project area 

as “Industrial/Commercial” in the Town’s land-use plan and the solar standards’ goal of 

preserving the prime agricultural land on which project was indisputably located. The hearing 

officer also questioned the standards’ failure to prohibit other kinds of development on 

 

8

This section provides, in part, that before the Board may issue a CPG, it must find that 

the project “will not unduly interfere with the orderly development of the region with due 

consideration having been given to the recommendations of the municipal and regional planning 

commissions, the recommendations of the municipal legislative bodies, and the land 

conservation measures contained in any plan of any affected municipality.” 30 V.S.A. 

§ 248(b)(1).
24

agricultural soil, demanding to know why that would be acceptable while “the modest, 

temporary, and reversible impacts” from 542 free-standing solar arrays would not. And finally, 

the hearing officer concluded that the standards were essentially meaningless as applied to the 

project site because it had not actually been used for agricultural production for fifteen or twenty 

years. 

¶ 47. The Board embraced the hearing officer’s reasoning, stating: “Th[e] analysis 

reflects the due consideration afforded by the Hearing Office of the Town’s recommendations, 

and we agree with the Hearing Officer’s reasoning.” The Board also emphasized that the 

standards’ siting requirements would “severely limit ground mounted solar development on 

existing land within the Town” and thereby frustrate “Vermont’s legislated policy goals 

supporting the deployment of in-state renewable generation facilities.” Although the Town 

established that substantial land within the town remained available for solar energy projects, the 

Board found this to be “an unlikely proposition.” Testimony by a town lister and planning 

commission member, as well as a professor at Lyndon State College, that a poorly sited major 

energy facility would have an adverse domino effect on the region as a whole was summarily 

rejected as “speculative.” 

¶ 48. In light of these findings, the Board’s self-serving statement that merely because 

the hearing officer “chose not to follow the recommendations in the Standards does not compel 

the conclusion” that he failed to give them “due consideration” is disingenuous, at best. As 

shown, the hearing officer viewed the relevance, if not indeed the very validity, of the Town’s 

recommendations with skepticism, and the Board expressly adopted the hearing officer’s 

reasoning. 

¶ 49. This was error. It is one thing to evaluate the merits of a town’s recommendations 

concerning the regional and environmental impacts of an energy project, quite another to 

question their legitimacy and underlying motivation. When a town appears before the Board and 
25

states its recommendations, “due consideration” at least requires a respectful, evenhanded, and 

balanced hearing. This did not occur. Furthermore, while the legislative policy in favor of 

renewable energy projects may constitute a valid consideration for the Board, it should not—as 

this decision implies—color every aspect of the decisionmaking process. 

¶ 50. A similar failing informed the Board’s consideration of the project’s impact on 

the aesthetics and natural beauty of the area, under 30 V.S.A. § 248(b)(5). All of the parties here 

agreed that the project would be out of character with the area—an area which, despite its zoning 

designation, was “currently characterized by a mix of agricultural use, low density residential 

and forested land.” There was no dispute, therefore, that the project’s visual impact and siting 

would have an adverse aesthetic impact on the area. See In re Petition of Cross Pollination, 2012 

VT 29, ¶ 10, 191 Vt. 631, 47 A.3d 1285 (mem.) (affirming two-step Quechee analysis which 

asks first whether project “will have an adverse impact on scenic and natural beauty” and second 

“whether this adverse impact would be undue” (quotations omitted)).

¶ 51. In determining whether that impact would be undue, however, the Board again 

displayed a basic lack of fairness. The first criterion under the Quechee test is whether the 

project would “violate a clear, written community standard intended to preserve the aesthetics or 

scenic, natural beauty of the area.” Id. The Town again relied on its solar standards, developed 

expressly to address concerns about the effect of solar-energy facilities “on the town’s residential 

neighborhoods and its scenic, natural, agricultural, and historic resources.” Once again, 

however, the hearing officer and the Board gave them little or no consideration. Their reasoning 

was that the solar standards did not represent “clear, written community standards for purposes 

of aesthetics review under § 248” because the specific setback requirements “constitute[d] a de 

facto zoning bylaw” from which the project was exempt;9the Town land-use plan did not 

 

9

 Under 24 V.S.A. § 4413(b), zoning bylaws may “not regulate public utility power 

generating plants and transmission facilities regulated under 30 V.S.A. § 248.”
26

contain a specific provision to preserve the scenic beauty of the project site; and the standards 

themselves did not identify the specific project site “as a scenic resource worthy of protection.” 

The majority here accepts these arguments and adds that the Board was justified in a applying a 

“modified Quechee standard” favoring the project because strict application of the solar 

standards would “enable the Town to control solar generation siting” despite its acknowledged 

“secondary” role. Ante, ¶ 18. 

¶ 52. As a basis to deny consideration of the Town’s solar standards, these arguments 

are decidedly weak. As the majority notes, the standards were formally adopted by the Town as 

a “supporting plan” to guide solar energy development under a process expressly authorized by 

statute. 24 V.S.A. § 4432. It is not necessary to re-label them as “zoning bylaws” to ensure 

continued state preeminence in the field of solar energy development. A “modified” Quechee

standard would balance state energy priorities with legitimate local concerns not by rejecting 

enactments like the solar standards but by exploring ways to accommodate them. The Board’s 

review process afforded ample flexibility, for example, to determine that larger setbacks were 

necessary to mitigate the project’s adverse scenic impacts without necessarily concluding that 

absolute compliance with the Town’s solar standards was a prerequisite to approval. 

¶ 53. Moreover, as noted, the standards were enacted to supplement the Town’s landuse plan; it is pointless, therefore, to suggest that they were undeserving of the Board’s 

consideration because they contain conservation provisions not contained in the plan. Nor is it

any more logical to conclude that the standards were deficient in failing to identify “this 

particular parcel as a scenic resource”; they were written to apply to the town as a whole, and set 

forth general standards to preserve scenic beauty and natural resources—including rules relating 

to buffering, agricultural soils, and setbacks from highways and wetlands—that were directly 

applicable to the project site. 
27

¶ 54. Equally one-sided was the Board’s consideration of the third Quechee criterion—

whether the applicant has taken all reasonable “mitigating steps” to ameliorate the project’s 

adverse aesthetic effect. See Cross Pollination, 2012 VT 29, ¶ 10. The Town and neighbors here 

advanced a number of suggestions to mitigate the project’s adverse impacts, ranging from 

alternative sites in more developed, non-residential areas of the town to a smaller project that 

would comply with the solar standards’ setback provisions.10 The Board, however, declined to 

consider any alternative sites, and summarily rejected the “feasibility” of any smaller project 

based on little more than the hearing officer’s assertion that compliance with the setback 

standards would “undoubtedly ‘frustrate the project’s purpose.’ ”

¶ 55. This does not, in my view, demonstrate adequate consideration of whether the 

applicant has taken all reasonable steps to mitigate the project’s adverse aesthetic impact. In In 

re Halnon, the Board denied a CPG for a wind turbine based, in part, on its finding that the 

applicant had failed to take reasonable mitigating steps to ameliorate the adverse aesthetic 

impacts of the project. 174 Vt. at 518, 811 A.2d at 166. There, as here, the project’s neighbors 

advanced a number of alternative sites, and the Board found that the applicant had “failed to 

present any compelling reason why he could not use an alternative site” as well as failed to take 

mitigating steps to improve the harmony of the proposed turbine with its surroundings. Id. at 

515, 811 A.2d at 163. As the Board there observed, the applicant had the “burden of proof in 

this case and has failed to demonstrate this mitigation would be unreasonable.” Id. at 515-16, 

811 A.2d at 163.

 

10

 The Town argued that “[h]onoring the 200-foot setback requirement of the . . . 

Standards would have done much to increase the harmony of the project with the surrounding 

neighborhood.” Neighbors also argued that setbacks larger than the 64-foot buffer proposed by 

the applicant would be reasonable given “the contribution the [site’s] open meadow makes to the 

views of surrounding residents.” Neighbors also adduced testimony from two witnesses 

concerning two alternative sites, one a large, 500-acre former gravel pit that the owner was 

interested in developing for solar energy, the other a 20-acre site owned by one of the neighbors 

who was similarly interested in developing the site for solar energy.
28

¶ 56. On appeal to this Court, the applicant claimed the Board had abused its discretion 

and violated state policy in favor of renewable energy by “putting the burden of proof upon him 

to show that mitigation would be unreasonable, and denying his application for failure to meet 

that burden.” Id. at 517. We rejected the contention, finding no error in the Board’s decision to 

deny the CPG “when [the applicant] failed to provide evidence that he had taken significant steps 

to minimize the negative effects that the project would have on the [neighbors’] view, . . . failed 

to present specific evidence supporting his contentions that siting the turbine at alternative 

locations caused problems and increased costs,” and indeed “conducted no analysis of alternative 

sites.”11 Id. 

¶ 57. The same failings were evident here. Apart from one witness’s summary 

assertion that even the slightest reduction in the project’s size would be unreasonable,12 the 

Board cited no evidence to show that a smaller solar array would frustrate the project’s purpose 

or that placement of the project at the alternative sites would not be feasible. This was not 

adequate, in my view to address the concerns raised by the Town and neighbors. Accordingly, I 

 

11

 Although a specific statute places the burden on the party opposing an Act 250 permit 

to show an “unreasonable or adverse [aesthetic] effect,” 10 V.S.A. § 6088(b), this provision is 

not expressly incorporated into the CPG review process under 30 V.S.A. § 248. Furthermore, 

while this Court has not definitively ruled on whether alternative sites may be viewed as a 

reasonable mitigating measure in Act 250 proceedings, Goddard College, 2014 VT 124, ¶ 11,

there is no question that the Board has considered them to be appropriate for consideration in 

CPG proceedings, as evidenced by its decision in Halnon and many other administrative rulings. 

See, e.g., In re New Cingular Wireless, LLC, No. 7998, 2013 WL 871477, at *4 (Pub. Serv. Bd. 

Mar. 4, 2013) (concluding that applicant “has performed due diligence by investigating fourteen 

alternative locations for the Project, only to conclude that these sites would not satisfy the 

coverage obligation”); In re SBA Towers III, Inc., No. 7868, 2012 WL 2061807, at * 4 (Pub. 

Serv. Bd. June 5, 2012) (noting that applicant had “evaluated alternative sites for the Project to 

accommodate neighboring landowners’ concerns regarding aesthetic impacts”); In re Application 

of Champlain Orchards, NM-1621, 2011 WL 6122575, at * 4 n.4 (Pub. Serv. Bd. Dec. 2, 2011) 

(concluding that, based on evidence presented, there was “no need to continue to the second 

prong of the [Quechee] analysis that would have examined possible mitigation measures 

including alternative locations for siting the project”). 

12

 The Director of Community Planning and Design for the applicant acknowledged that 

he “consider[ed] any reduction in the size—the number of panels—a frustration of the project’s 

purposes.” 
29

would remand this matter to the Board with directions to afford a more balanced consideration of 

the project’s impact on the region in light of the Town’s solar standards and recommendations, 

and to address—and if necessary take additional evidence—on whether larger setbacks, a smaller 

project, or an alternative location would represent reasonable mitigation measures. 

¶ 58. I am authorized to state that Justice Eaton joins this dissent.

Chief Justice