Local News
A representative town meeting gave the two-thirds vote needed to construct a 57-acre solar array atop a historic golf course.
A view of “The Volcano” at the Cape Cod Country Club in Falmouth. Courtesy of Cape Cod Country Club
A historic Cape Cod golf course passed a significant hurdle Monday night, gaining approval to work with the town to transform its fairways into solar panels.
At a representative town meeting in Falmouth, voters gave the two-thirds vote needed for developers PureSky Energy to donate the property to the town and lease a portion back for the installation of three solar projects.
“With this approval, we are one step closer to a cleaner, more sustainable future that also delivers real benefits for Falmouth residents,” said Dan Skizim, senior director of development for the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic at PureSky Energy, in a statement.
He continued, “Our proposal ensures this land continues to serve the community, and we look forward to continuing our work with the town.”
The project will now go before the Falmouth Planning Board for site plan review on Nov. 25.
Developers say the solar arrays will connect to the electrical grid by mid-2027.
The proposed project, which will be one of the largest solar farms in the state, will cover about 57 acres with more than 45,000 solar panels, generating over 29,000 megawatt-hours of energy per year.
The plans include donating 137 acres to the town, with more than 55 acres dedicated to conservation, including the planting of pollinator meadows and trees. Developers would clear about 10 acres for the solar arrays and a battery storage facility.
The developers say that the transition will improve local water quality by reducing nitrogen and phosphorus from fertilizers in stormwater runoff by 98%.
Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, PureSky Energy is a developer, owner, and operator of U.S. community solar and storage projects nationwide.
In a letter read aloud during the town meeting by the owner of Cape Cod Country Club, David Friel, he acknowledged that he began to consider selling the course around 2015.
“Several people have approached us with stories of a rich best friend who wanted to purchase the CCC or others who were going out to put a group together to buy the club,” the letter from Friel read. “Only once in 15 years was there a follow-up conversation, and that was very short.”
Field continued, “Large pieces of land and golf clubs are very difficult to sell.”
So, when he heard from a local attorney in 2020 that a solar company was interested in purchasing the property and donating back to the town — he pounced.
“I believe that a sustainable energy project where the town would own the land, have no noise, have no traffic, need no town services, and have a portion of the donated land preserved as conservation seemed like a win for everyone,” Friel wrote.
Town meeting members overwhelmingly agreed — voting to allow the donation to the town to proceed in a 174-34 vote.
A separate citizens’ petition that sought to stop the project by removing the golf course from the town’s solar overlay district failed to pass.
Before the vote, many residents spoke out against the proposed project, saying they support solar but not at this location or scale. Others worried that it would diminish home values and take away tourism in the area.
“We are disappointed,” wrote Beverly Tilden, who led the ad-hoc citizens group Friends of the Cape Cod Country Club against the project, in a statement. “A zoning change of this magnitude—one that transforms an entire neighborhood—should have required far more input from legal counsel, abutters and the people of Falmouth.”
Beth Treffeisen is a general assignment reporter for Boston.com, focusing on local news, crime, and business in the New England region.
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