Worthington Planning Board Sets May Deadline for Solar Array Technical Review

WORTHINGTON — March 12, 2026 — Worthington Planning Board presses consultants on groundwater and battery risks as Ridge Road solar review drags on. The board spent nearly three hours March 12 in a working session with lead engineer Christopher and Jeff Babineau of Hallam ICS, focusing on the absence of site-specific soil and geotechnical data from applicant Blue Wave and the risks posed to a shallow bedrock aquifer that a 2005 town study flagged as highly vulnerable. Stormwater modeling submitted by Blue Wave relies on regional National Resource Conservation Service assumptions rather than on-site testing, which the lead engineer called "a little bit unusual." The board set an April 24 site visit and targeted a May 28 hearing to deliver a comprehensive written question list to Blue Wave; a brief continuation hearing is set for March 26. The board also voted unanimously to submit formal comments on state DOER draft solar siting regulations, with the letter stressing the impossibility of meeting a one-year permitting deadline in a town with no paid planning staff.