Bellingham Planning Board Opens Pearl Street Battery Storage Hearing, Orders Peer Review

BELLINGHAM -- June 25, 2026, Bellingham Planning Board opens battery storage hearing amid Land Court fight, clears subdivision covenant. The board voted unanimously June 25 to open and immediately continue a public hearing on a development plan application at 26 Pearl Street, where applicant ZEB 2020-03 LLC is seeking approval for a battery energy storage system whose underlying use remains contested in a pending Land Court appeal of a Zoning Board of Appeals denial. KP Law town counsel Amy Quessel told the board it is "very difficult" to conduct a development plan review "when you don't know what the use is," but recommended ordering peer review under MGL Chapter 44, Section 53G to advance the process while the court case proceeds toward summary judgment; a case management conference is set for July 8 or 10. The board also voted 5-0 to release a Form F covenant on the six-lot Snett Trail Estates subdivision, freeing developer Timothy Jones to convey lots now that a $430,000 performance bond placed in January 2026 secures remaining infrastructure, a release Quessel described as legally obligatory under MGL Chapter 81U. All open public hearings, including three continuances at 180 Payne Street and the Red Mill Subdivision, are set to resume July 23 at 7 p.m.